


Cellmates

by brightlikeloulou



Series: Inside and Out [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Prison, Anal Sex, Explicit Sexual Content, First Meetings, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Implied/Referenced Sex, M/M, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Other Additional Tags to Be Added as new chapters come out, Prisoner!Daryl, Prisoner!Jesus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-09-05 15:20:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 28,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16813291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightlikeloulou/pseuds/brightlikeloulou
Summary: When Daryl Dixon was caught with his brother's cocaine in his possession, he was tried and sentenced to prison.His cellmate turned out to be a guy who called himself Jesus, and he seemed friendly, so friendly that Daryl wondered what the guy was locked up for.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Look, another AU! 
> 
> Also, I don’t know a lot about prison, my knowledge comes from google searches and organge is the new black.

Daryl had made a stupid mistake. A mistake so fucking stupid, that he was disappointed in himself.

Merle, who was for once out of prison, was under suspicion again and being watched by the cops. Merle knew that if he were caught with a stash on him again, he likely wouldn't make it back out of prison. So, he'd given his stash of cocaine to Daryl to hold until the heat was off him. Unfortunately, an undercover cop had caught Daryl accepting the drugs from Merle.

Two days later, cops arrived at Daryl's house, and they had a permit to search his apartment, and sure enough, they found the drugs in his possession, and he was arrested.

He had wanted to cry when he was taken into the station and Rick was the one to question him. Rick had been his best friend for seven years and had done so much for him, Daryl felt like a piece of shit for throwing it away. Daryl couldn't look him in the eye when the man had entered the dark interrogation room. Rick had always told him that Merle was bad news and that Daryl needed to cut him out of his life, Daryl had realised he was right.

"Daryl," Rick had said softly, "I'm not mad, okay? I'm not disappointed. Merle's your brother, and he got in your head,"

Daryl kept his eyes on his hands, at the little red marks from where the cuffs had dug into his skin before Rick had removed them when he came in. "I'm sorry," He finally whimpered.

Rick shook his head and reached out to place his hand on Daryl's wrist, and he squeezed softly. "It's alright," He said softly, and Daryl was trying his absolute best not to cry.

Instead, he took a deep breath and then finally looked up at the Sheriff, "What am I lookin' at?" He grunted the dreaded question that had been bouncing around in his head since he had been arrested.

"Due to the amount of cocaine that was found in your possession, you will go to court and be tried, and you will be given a prison sentence," Rick sighed, and even Daryl could see the glassiness in them. "I will be helping you pay for your lawyer, and we're going to make sure we get you the shortest possible sentence, okay?"

Daryl huffed out a shaky breath and shook his head, "You ain't paying for anythin', man,"

Rick rolled his eyes and then smiled at him. "Shut up, I'm helping you out, alright? Not an option for you to say no, brother,"

Those words sprung tears in Daryl's eyes because he didn't fucking deserve to have a man like this in his life.

Daryl ended up with an eight-month sentence, and it could have been a lot worse, and he was even eligible for parole after five months depending on his behavior. He definitely owed his lawyer a six pack. One of the conditions Daryl had, was that he could have no contact with his brother who had been locked up in a different, more high-security prison.

The night before Daryl was taken to prison, he had shared goodbyes with Michonne, Carl, and Judith, along with some other friends he had. Rick drove Daryl to the prison, had stayed with him as long as he could before the guards had had to take Daryl away.

He had almost managed not to cry when he hugged Rick goodbye, only a few tears managed to escape his eyes, and he had quickly wiped them away before he turned and faced the two guards behind him.

Two very large and intimidating men, but the ginger one with ford embroidered into his uniform, at least smiled at him. But Daryl knew how things could be in prisons sometimes, between inmates, or inmates and guards, and he had no idea if that smile was a good thing or not. But he knew that he needed to watch his back.

Being strip searched was one of the most humiliating experiences of Daryl's life. He had been naked in front of men before, that came with being a gay man with an active sex life, but this was different, he didn't have a choice in this situation.

He was still unsure about Ford, but the man had talked softly to him while they searched him, made a few jokes, said some stuff about his wife and kid. He had a colorful vocabulary and had managed to pull a few small smiles from Daryl. Daryl was beginning to think that maybe the man would be okay, and he knew it wouldn't hurt to be friends with a guard, as long as that guard wasn't expecting a certain kind of friendship from him.

As soon as his prison clothes were handed to him, he shoved them on as fast as he possibly could, and he nearly tripped twice.

After he was dressed in his official prison uniform, and ugly orange thing, he was taken to another place where he gave his official visitors, phone call and mail list. Rick, Michonne and Tara was all the list consisted of.

After that, he was able to give one phone-call before he was taken to his cell. The other guard had left now that Daryl had been thoroughly searched and was deemed safe, but Ford stayed and watched as he dialed Rick's mobile number into the phone.

"Daryl?" Rick answered the call after only one ring.

"Yeah," Daryl sighed in reply, and the sound of his true brother's voice over the phone had him close to crying again.

"How's everything going? Are you okay?"

Daryl looked around when the sound of chatter met his ears, and he watched as two inmates walked past him. Two men that looked well into their fifties.

"It's fine, going to my cell after this. And yeah, 'm okay,"

Rick sighed heavily, "You only have one cellmate, but that's all I know,"

Daryl nodded, and then remembered that the other man couldn't see him. "Yeah, they told me that,"

"Make sure you report it if he causes you trouble, alright?" Rick said to him, and Daryl knew what he meant because Rick was also familiar with what could happen inside prisons.

"Yeah," Daryl grunted.

"Come on, Dixon, gotta get you into your cell. You can come back later, phone calls can be made from eight to ten," Ford said to him, his voice filled with authority, but patience.

Daryl nodded at the ginger man. "I gotta go now, Rick. I'll talk to you later,"

"Alright, good luck, Daryl. And you stay out of trouble, understand? Remember good behavior for your parole." Rick replied to him, his voice stern.

"Yeah, I know. See you, Rick, I gotta go," Daryl said, and once Rick also said goodbye, Daryl hung up the phone, and the waited for Ford's instructions.

They began walking to Daryl's cell, and Daryl was afraid. He didn't think that he would be, he thought that he would be just fine, but now that he was there, his stomach was a mess of nerves. His hands were trembling, but he was trying his best to keep it together. He didn't need his cellmate's first impression of him to be that he was a wuss. Merle had told him stories about what happened to 'wusses' in prison.

Daryl's footsteps against the concrete were loud as he was led to his cell, and when Ford came to a stop in front of one, his stomach jumped. Ford stepped inside, and Daryl followed.

"Alright, this is you," Ford said.

Daryl looked around, the cell was small. It had one bed on each side of the wall, both beds had a nightstand, and then at the end of each bed was a desk and chair pushed against the wall.

"Rovia," Ford said, and Daryl looked at the man sitting on the bed on the left side of the cell.

He looked a few years younger than Daryl, but with his thick beard on his face and his long hair, Daryl couldn't be sure of his age. He wore a uniform like Daryl and held a book in his lap. His side of the cell wasn't bare like Daryl's, it had books, paints, and supplies, folded clothes, a stack of paintings.

"Abraham," The man greeted and smiled at the guard, and then at Daryl, but Daryl didn't smile back. He cast his eyes back at the floor.

"This is your new cellmate, Dixon. Dixon, this Rovia," Ford said, and Daryl wondered why people seemed to only be introduced by last names.

"Everyone calls me Jesus though," The bearded man said, and Daryl looked up at that, and the man smiled sweetly at him. Daryl became very much aware that the man was pretty damn attractive.

"Hey," Daryl forced himself to say, and then when Ford motioned for him to, sat down on the bed.

"Hi," Jesus said right back.

"Rovia, you think you can fill him in on what he needs to know? I'm running late today and wanna get home to see my kid's dance class this afternoon," Ford said, and Daryl wondered if that was a good sign that his cellmate was a good guy if the guard was willing to leave before he was supposed to.

Jesus nodded and relaxed back onto his bed a little, "Sure,"

Ford nodded his thanks to him and then gave Daryl a small smile before he turned and left the cell.

Daryl fiddled with his hands and attempted to take a deep breath, but it was shaky.

"So, Dixon," Jesus said, and Daryl immediately began to listen intently, "Basic shit: Rise and shine seven am, lights out eleven pm. Breakfast from seven thirty to eight thirty, you miss it, you wait until one for lunch, then dinner at seven. Work is from nine to three, breaks in between of course. From three to five we get time out in the yard, or you can stay in the cellblock if you want. Six to seven is when you have your religious groups and such, special programs. From eight to ten we're free to move around, but you should make time to shower in there, as after ten we can't leave the cellblock. You usually fill that time with crap you have in your cell until lights out."

It was a lot of information for Daryl to process, and he knew he'd have to ask a few questions at some point.

"Alright, thanks," Daryl mumbled and then moved to lay on his back on the cell.

"No worries," Jesus said, "Oh, and during the day at some point once a week, you'll have a one-hour appointment with your psychologist. Your psychologist and work assignment will all be assigned to you in the next couple of days, so you'll have to stay in the cell block while others are at work,"

Daryl nodded again, and it was so much. So much information, he was learning how to live for the next five to eight months, and it was overwhelming, and he just wanted to cry.

"Try not to worry," Jesus said, and Daryl looked over at him, found the man looking at him with a soft expression on his face, and Daryl wondered what he was in for. "You'll be fine,"

"Hope so," Daryl grunted after a few moments, and then sighed heavily and closed his eyes.

"I'll help you get to know you're way around. You get used to the schedule pretty quick, it can just be overwhelming the first couple of days."

"You always so friendly?" Daryl grunted.

Jesus huffed out a laugh and stood up from his bed, "I just would have liked to have someone help me out when I first got here, but people didn't like me,"

"Why?" Daryl found himself asking, his curiosity getting the best of him as he watched Jesus stretch his arms above his head.

"Well," Jesus started and smirked at him, "People knew I was gay within the first couple of days I was here, heard me talking to my friend about an ex on the phone. Anyway, some guy tried to make a pass at me, a very forceful pass. Anyway, he probably figured I was weak, but I beat the shit out of him, and I ended up in the hole for almost two weeks."

Daryl snorted a laugh, "The hole?" He asked, and part of him wanted to mention that he was gay too, but he knew that wouldn't be a good idea, especially with guys like the one Jesus had beaten up around.

"Solitary confindment. Be smart, you don't wanna end up down there," Jesus answered and then took a few steps to the entry to the cell, "Come on, I'll show you around a bit,"

Daryl sighed heavily, and sat up, "Alright," He said, and then followed Jesus out of the cell.

He hoped that his cellmate was a nice as he seemed to be because though he didn't make friends all that much, he knew that getting along with the guy he was going to be sharing a small room with at least the next five months, would make his life easier.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesus shows Daryl around, and Daryl meets one of his friends.

Jesus took Daryl to the bathrooms first as Daryl had confessed that he needed to piss. Daryl had felt incredibly nervous as they walked into the bathroom areas, there were urinals along the walls, and then a couple of stalls, he was relieved that he would get a sense of privacy when he needed it.

"Go ahead," Jesus had said and then leaned himself up against the concrete wall by the door.

Daryl had furrowed his brows at him, he had expected the man to wait outside for him and wasn't entirely sure why he was staying. But then Daryl looked around the bathroom and at the other men there, he found a lot of them looking at him, some with looks of confusion, curiosity, and others with looks that had a swirl of nervousness swirling through his gut.

He looked back at Jesus, and the man nodded and then smiled softly at him.

Daryl realised what the man was doing, he was there to 'protect him,' if that was the right way to phrase it, he was there to make sure that one of the men didn't try anything. Daryl was grateful for it, but also annoyed by it at the same time, because he wanted to think that he could handle himself around these men, but really, he didn't know what they were like. So, he bit his tongue and then stepped over to one of the urinals, and he quickly did his business before he made his way back to Jesus.

"Alright, let's go," Jesus said and walked out of the bathroom, and Daryl followed behind him, eager to get out of the bathroom. They walked along a corridor, and Jesus checked his watch, "It's a little past one, let's go get something to eat,"

Daryl wasn't all that hungry as he and Rick had had a big meal before Rick dropped him off, and that was only roughly three hours ago judging by the time Jesus had just told him, but he could still eat.

"Okay," Daryl replied, and Jesus smiled at him as they turned the corner.

"Warning, the food is fucking awful,"

Daryl snorted softly, "I figured it wouldn't be like a five-star restaurant,"

"It'd barely get half a star," Jesus laughed, "I'll point out the cooks so that you know not to mention how shit it is in front of them. I'll give you the rundown on other inmates and guards too,"

Daryl nodded, that would be very helpful. He'd know who to stay away from, who was okay, who to possibly try and make friends with.

They finally entered a cafeteria a few minutes walk from their cell block. Daryl swallowed thickly at the number of inmates around, it was _a lot_ of people, and Daryl didn't like being around a lot of people. There was a line of prisoners holding trays on the left side of the large room, and walking along counters, with kitchen staff placing things onto their trays. Guards were scattered around in various places, and after looking around for a moment, Daryl spotted Ford chatting to another guard.

"Hey?"

Jesus' voice suddenly broke Daryl from his thoughts, and he realised that he was still standing in the doorway of the cafeteria, and he hurriedly stepped towards Jesus when he realised there were people behind him.

"Are you good?" Jesus asked, looking up at Daryl with furrowed brows above eyes that Daryl realised were a pretty shade of green and blue mixed together.

Daryl nodded and tugged at his orange uniform, "Yeah, I'm good,"

Jesus looked at him for another moment, as if he was making sure before he nodded and began walking again.

They came to a stop by the counters, and Jesus grabbed them both a tray off the blue rack. Daryl was glad when the man stood in front of him in the line, that way Daryl could see what he was meant to do.

"We'll sit with a friend of mine, he'll be around here somewhere," Jesus told him as the line began moving and they came to the first part of the counters.

A chubby guy with dark hair and a messy beard placed a bread roll on both of their trays, and then they continued walking.

By the time they had finished walking along the counters and were making their way through tables as Jesus searched for his friend, they both had a bread roll on their tray, some peas, butter, a cup of water, some mashed potato and two slices of roasted turkey.

"Where the fu- oh there he is," Jesus said and took a sudden turn, Daryl huffed and did the same.

They approached a table that had eight seats, three people sat at one end, and then one man by himself at the other. Jesus walked up to the lone man and placed his tray down on the table opposite the man.

The man looked up at Jesus and smiled, "Hey, Jesus," He greeted him. The man looked tall, and he had short-ish curly hair and stubble on his face.

"Hi," Jesus replied and sat down, and motioned for Daryl to do the same, which he did. "This is my new cellmate, Dixon. Dixon, this Raleigh,"

The curly headed, blue-eyed man smiled warmly at him and then pulled off a chunk of his bread roll. "Good to meet you, Dixon," He said.

"You too," Daryl replied quietly and placed a mouthful of mashed potato into his mouth, it was lumpy, tasteless, and cold, and he knew he was going to miss Michonne's fantastic cooking very quickly.

"New watch?" Jesus asked, and Daryl watched as he motioned towards Raleigh's wrist, where a black, analog watch sat.

Raleigh smiled and nodded as he stroked the pad of his finger over the glass, "Yeah, anniversary present,"

Daryl noticed the sad tone in his voice, and even he, who hadn't really ever had a serious relationship, could understand that not being able to spend an anniversary with a loved one would suck.

Jesus sighed dramatically and grinned, "If only a had a cute husband on the outside that would send me a new watch, this piece of shit is on the verge of dying,"

Daryl raised his brows at the word husband, it seemed like he was joining a gay club, but he didn't say anything and continued to eat his meal. When he did look up, and he found Raleigh looking at Jesus with slightly wide eyes.

"Jesus!" He hissed.

"What?" Paul grunted around a mouthful of bread and potato, (Daryl wanted to slap himself because he found it cute). He eventually looked up to find Raleigh glaring at him, his eyes flickering to Daryl every now and then, and he rolled his eyes, "Relax, I told him I was gay, and he was more concerned about what 'the hole' was than that, he doesn't give a shit,"

Oh, Daryl thought, Raleigh was like him and thought it better that not everyone knew he was gay.

He swallowed thickly when Raleigh's eyes settled on him like he was gauging his reaction, and not sure what else to do, Daryl nodded.

Raleigh watched him for a few seconds longer before he also nodded, and then returned to eating his meal. "Alright,"

"So," Jesus said after a while, and turned slightly to look at Daryl, "Let's talk prisoners and guards,"

Daryl nodded and took a gulp of water from his cup before he placed his hands in his lap to once again be able to focus on what Jesus taught him. "Okay,"

Jesus smiled slightly at him, and then motioned with his head towards a spot behind him, Daryl turned his head and looked. "Now, most of the guards here are okay, but there are a few assholes around, there's only one on canteen duty, and it's that one over there. The skinny one with a twelve-year old's haircut, yeah, he just nitpicks, tries his absolute best to find something he can get you in trouble with. He's also homophobic, racist, and sexist, a real piece of work,"

Jesus continued to talk, and gave him the rundown on several of the guards, "What about Ford?" Daryl asked when Jesus was about to move onto inmates.

"Oh, he's great," Jesus replied, "As long as you aren't in here for anything too gnarly and you don't give him trouble, he'll be your friend,"

The rundown on the prisoners that Jesus gave him was more like a transfer high school student being informed of the school's different cliques. Except, these cliques were more intense and dangerous. By the time lunch was over and both Jesus and Daryl were making their way back to the cells, he knew how to navigate the people of the prison.

* * *

The day went slowly, and it felt like it had been seven days by the time Daryl's first day was over.

While inmates were supposed to shower each day, they were in the minimum security area of the prison and weren't completely escorted, more like a few guards just stuck around to make sure that people got to the shower of a night.

Jesus had left early on in the evening and had wanted Daryl to come with him so Jesus could 'keep an eye on him' again like he had done in the bathroom. But Daryl just couldn't, his anxiety was all over the place, and the idea of entering the showers was terrifying to him, he couldn't handle it at that moment, not on his first day.

Jesus had eventually left, and told Daryl to change into his sleep clothes in the cell, and maybe the guards would believe he had already showered.

Daryl did so, and then laid on his bed, and stared up at the concrete ceiling above him.

Ford had shown up at the entrance of the cell ten minutes after Jesus had left, and gave him a soft smile. "Rovia said you already showered?" He asked, and Daryl realised that Jesus had lied for him and that Ford more than likely knew it was a lie but was understanding. Daryl nodded. "Alright, well, have a good night, I'll see you tomorrow morning with your work and psychologist assignment," He said, and then spun on his heels and left.

When Jesus returned to the cell after half an hour, wet hair dripping onto his clothes, he smiled at Daryl. "I told you Ford was great,"

Daryl nodded and watched as the other man crawled into his bed and opened the book that he had sat on his nightstand. "Yeah, he is,"

"I see you haven't been sent belongings yet, would you like a book?" Jesus asked and motioned to the organized pile he had on his desk.

Daryl shook his head, he didn't think that he could handle the effort of reading. "Nah, thanks, need some sleep," He answered quietly, and adjusted the covers over his body.

"Okay," Jesus said softly, and Daryl could see the man looking at him out of the corner of his eye, but he decided to close his eyes and not look back at him, "Goodnight, sleep well,"

"Night," Daryl huffed and then tried his best to fall asleep. It took three hours for him to succeed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl has his first appointment with his psychiatrist and then meets another inmate, who is nothing like Jesus and Aaron.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a homophobic slur in this chapter said by another inmate.

Daryl looked around the room, it was brightly lit and homey, a couple of bookshelves and a few photos hanging up. He was sitting in the chair in front of the desk and was the most comfortable he had been in since had arrived in the prison. It supported his constantly sore back nicely, and he had a nice cushioning under his butt.

"So," The woman across from him said, and Daryl finally looked over at her. She smiled warmly at him, and he looked her over. She looked like a classic housewife, wearing a blue button-up and she had short grey hair. The little plaque on the front of her desk read Carol Peletier.

"Mr. Dixon, you've been here almost two weeks now, and this is our first appointment. Why don't you tell me how it's been so far?" She asked, her voice even and polite.

Daryl huffed through his nose and scratched the back of his hand, "Fine,"

"Just fine?"

"Well, I am in prison," Daryl smarted back and looked away from her.

She chuckled lightly, "Well, it's my job to try and make this experience a little better for you," She told him, and twirled a pen around her fingers, "Let's start with your job assignment, did you get something you enjoy?"

"Timber manufacture, 's fine I guess,"

"At least you don't hate it," Carol smiled at him, and he just looked away again, "What about your cellmate? You get along with him?"

Daryl nodded and chewed at the hangnails on his thumb. "Yeah, we're friends I guess," He replied, he was reasonably certain that's what he would call Jesus.

"Ah that's great, the amount of people I get in here bitching about their cellmates is ridiculous," She told him as she scribbled something down on the notepad in front of her. "Who is he again?"

"Jesus," Daryl replied, "Rovia," He then corrected himself, remembering that Jesus was just the man's nickname, Daryl released that he still didn't know the man's first name. He didn't know Raleigh's either for that matter, but he guessed he could call him a friend too.

Carol smiled, "Ah, Mr. Rovia," She said almost fondly, "He's also one of my patients. He's an interesting character that one. Very nice man though, he'll be a good friend for you to have during your time here,"

Daryl nodded, "How long's he in for?" He then asked quietly, realizing he didn't like the idea of Jesus getting out before him and that he'd have to spend part of his sentence without the guy around, and yeah like Carol had said, he was quite a character, but he was his friend and made Daryl feel more comfortable when he was around.

Carol smiled at him sadly, "I'm sorry, I can't disclose information about my other patients,"

"Right," Daryl replied and felt stupid for even asking.

"So," She said after she spent a few moments writing more things down, and Daryl wanted to know what she was saying about him. "Do you have contact with anyone outside of the prison?"

"Three people are on my list, talk to 'em all every day. My brother and his wife put their kids on the phone for me too,"

"Your brother?" Carol asked with a look of confusion and furrowed brows, "It was my understanding that your brother was in prison and that you were to have no contact with him during your sentence and then your probation once you're released,"

"Not Merle," Daryl replied and shifted awkwardly in his seat, "Rick Grimes, he ain't a blood brother, but he's more than Merle.

"Ah," Carol said in understanding, "Is it easier harder for you that you're able to talk to them?"

Daryl shrugged, "I dunno,"

"Well, after talking to them, do you feel happier, or in a more negative mood?"

"Happier, I guess," Daryl grunted and shifted awkwardly, watched as she wrote it down.

It went on like that for the next forty-five minutes until their one-hour session was completed, Carol (she had insisted that he call her by her first name) asking questions, and getting one-word answers or just very vague ones.

Daryl checked the new watch on his wrist as he exited his psychiatrist's office and made his way down the corridor. Rick had sent the watch in for him on his second day, but Daryl had only received it today. He had given Rick full access to his bank account before he left so that he would be able to purchase things for Daryl and he wouldn't have to do it out of his own pocket.

He made his way down the long corridors to reach the door that would allow him to go outside into the yard. It was only half past three, and yard time was three to five. He liked being out in the yard for those two hours, it was the only time he got to properly feel the sun on his skin. Before being locked up, he'd spend as much time as he could out of his apartment and in the nearby woods, camping out there more often than he actually lived in his apartment.

And though sitting in a yard with high fences that made him feel like a caged animal, because the woods were just beyond them, but he couldn't get to them, he'd still much rather be sat out there than in the cell.

He pushed the heavy door open when he reached it and sighed happily when he stepped out and immediately felt the breeze lifting his shoulder-length hair. He moved away from the door so he wouldn't be hit with it if someone else came out, and began to look around.

He furrowed his brows and pursed his lips in disappointment when he didn't see Raleigh or Jesus anywhere. Though he felt a little uncomfortable being around the other inmates without either of his friends with him, he had had a long day and wanted to enjoy the sun. So, he walked over to the closest empty picnic table and sat himself down on the table, and he laid back after a second so he could feel the heat on his face.

He heard footsteps approaching and sat himself up, he squinted at the guy that was now standing in front of him. He vaguely recognized him, had probably seen him in showers somewhere or in the cafeteria. The guy was tall with a boyish face, and messy brown hair.

Daryl quirked a brow at him in question, "What do you want?" He grunted.

The smirked at him, and then sat down on the seat. "No hello?"

"Don't know who you are,"

"My name's Gareth," He replied, and Daryl honestly couldn't tell if that was a first name or a last name.

"What do you want?" Daryl repeated himself and could feel a slight swirl of nerves in his gut.

Daryl looked at the man, he was bigger than the stranger and could probably take him, but then again he was slightly bigger than Jesus, and he had made it clear on Daryl's first day that he could kick ass. Daryl saw the man that Jesus had beat up the day previous when the two of them walked into the cafeteria and Jesus had pointed him out to him. The guy was a lot bigger than Daryl, in height and muscle wise, and it said a lot about just how damn dangerous Paul was despite his average height. Then again, Daryl had seen a bit of the man's body in the shower too, and the fact that he was all solid muscle, made his strength clear enough.

"Is it a crime to have a chat, Dixon?" Gareth replied, and Daryl squinted at him because how did the guy know his name.

"I don't want to have a chat," Daryl grunted and gave him his strongest glare.

The man huffed and stretched his arms above his head, and Daryl flinched slightly, and then swallowed thickly when he realised that Gareth had seen. "You don't look like a very chatty person sure, but you seem happy enough with those gays, why not me?"

Daryl held back the snarl in his throat.

"Ah," Gareth said, with a wicked smirk, "Maybe you're like them, huh? You a fag too? I bet that's why you like being around them so much, they fuck you?"

Daryl had never felt so uncomfortable in his life, "You wanna shut the fuck up," Daryl hissed at him, tried to act like he was fine even though he was sure the man could almost hear his heart thumping in his chest.

"No, Dixon, I really don't," Gareth replied, and he reached forward and tightly grasped Daryl's knee. Daryl tried to flinch away from the touch, but Gareth's grip was strong. Gareth leaned closer to him, and even though Daryl was looking down at him, it was still intimidating as hell. "You wanna be really nice to me now that I've got that out of you, wouldn't be smart of you if you weren't," He told him, a clear threat in his slimy voice and Daryl almost felt a shiver down his spine.

"Gareth!" Jesus' shout was suddenly heard, and Daryl's head snapped to the side to find Jesus walking towards them, Raleigh close on his heels. Both men had hard looks on their face.

Gareth let go of Daryl's knee when the two men reached them and sighed heavily as he stood up. "Jesus, Raleigh," He greeted them, his voice still strong, but not as confident as it had been when he was just speaking to Daryl.

Both men glared at him in response, and Jesus jerked his head towards the door that led back inside. "You need to fuck off," He told Gareth.

Gareth sighed heavily, he turned his head back and winked at Daryl before he began to walk. "Whatever you say," He called as he did, and Daryl almost felt sick to his stomach.

It was Raleigh who spoke then, "You stay away from him, Dixon,"

Jesus nodded and sat down on the table part of the picnic table with Daryl, Raleigh sat down on the grass in front of them.

"He's bad news. You don't want to be involved with him," Jesus said and began pulling his hair into a knot, Daryl watched his long fingers thread through his hair.

Daryl grunted, and tried to act calm, "What's he in for? He seemed creepy," Daryl asked, he figured it was okay to ask other inmates what other people were in for, just not his physiatrist.

Raleigh spread out on the ground, laid flat on his back. "He murdered a guy, and then cooked and ate him,"

That immediately made Daryl shudder, and he felt even more uncomfortable about the way Gareth had talked to him. But, he wasn't about to bring that up with Jesus and Raleigh, he didn't want to cause more trouble. "That's fucking disgusting,"

Jesus hummed from beside him and rested his elbows on his knees and his chin on the palms of his hands. "I think that's the worst part about being in here, walking around and living with people like that, and most of the time not even knowing it,"

Daryl grunted, and in that moment, he suddenly became very aware of how much he missed his home. "Yeah. I'm here for holding my brother's cocaine stash, and that even that bad. Fucking disturbing to think what some of these guys are in for," He said and shook his head, not really minding that he had just given up what he was put away for.

Raleigh pushed himself up onto his elbows, "I mean, I'm here for tax fraud. My cellmate is in for several proved incidents of Arson,"

"You can really make yourself uncomfortable if you think about it enough," Jesus sighed, but offered up no information as to why he was in. It made Daryl curious as hell, but he respected the man's privacy.

The three of them stay out there until the guards begin shuffling everyone back inside, and later that night when everyone was tucked away in their cells for the night, Daryl found comfort in the sound of Jesus' rhythmic breathing on the other side of the cell. Though the other man slept peacefully, Daryl didn't sleep at all that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if there are any tags that you think I should add from this chapter. 
> 
> \---
> 
> Up to plot ideas, writing as I go :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesus receives some upsetting news and shares it with Daryl.

Daryl picked at the gross food in front of him. He'd been in prison approaching a month, and he wasn't getting any more fond of the food. The meal in front of him had over-cooked vegetables, tough lamb, and stale crackers with almost completely tasteless cheese.

He was halfway through his meal when a tray was dropped down on the table in front of him. He looked up and found a very smiley Jesus sitting down opposite him.

"Hi!" He greeted and proceeded to shove mouthful of mashed potato into his mouth.

Daryl raised a brow at him as he nibbled on a cracker, "You're overly cheerful," he observed, smirking a little.

Jesus grinned, "Yes, I am,"

"Any reason?" Daryl asked, watching as Jesus pushed some of his long hair behind his big ears, big ears that Daryl found really cute.

"It's my visiting day," He replied happily, "I get to see my best friend and boyfriend today,"

The word 'boyfriend' sent a small stab of jealousy into Daryl's gut. He tried to tell himself it was because he was surprised as Jesus had never mentioned having a boyfriend before and Daryl had been the man's cellmate for almost a month at that point. But then Jesus started to tell him a bit about his boyfriend, Alex, and Daryl didn't want to listen, didn't want to have to hear Jesus talking about another man.

It only took Jesus a few minutes to eat his food; he was too excited to leave and wanted to be able to spend as much time with his two visitors as he could.

Daryl picked at his food after Jesus left, the food had come even less appealing since he had a 'green monster' swirling around in his gut.

He and Jesus had grown close in the almost month that Daryl had been his cellmate, the man was kind of like his own personal bodyguard in a way. The people of their cellblock seemed to know that Jesus could hold his own and wasn't to be messed with, so people left him alone, and since Daryl was usually around Jesus, they left him alone too.

Jesus was still as nice as he had been the first day Daryl got to the prison, and Daryl found him easy to talk to and be around. He let Daryl borrow his books and have some of his food when Daryl had eaten his serving and was still hungry, he made jokes and held easy conversations that made Daryl feel comfortable around him.

And apparently, had made him develop some feelings towards him, enough to make him jealous after finding out the younger man had already had boyfriend.

Daryl sighed and decided that he'd had enough of his food and grabbed his tray of food and made his way to one of the trash bins, and he poured his scraps into it. He ran a hand over his face as he made his way out of the cafeteria.

* * *

Several long hours later Daryl was finally relaxing on his bunk, the book that Jesus had currently lent him open in his lap.

Jesus appeared in the cell at around eight, his hair wet, obviously having come from the showers.

"Hey," Daryl greeted him, he hadn't seen the man since lunch and had no idea where he had been.

"Hi," Jesus said flatly, stepping over to his bed and pulling the thin sheets back as he climbed inside.

Daryl furrowed his brows and placed the book down beside him before he propped himself up on his elbows. He looked over at Jesus, found that the man was laying flat on his back and staring blankly up at the ceiling.

"Are you okay?" Daryl asked carefully.

"No," Jesus replied, rubbing a hand over his face and then sitting up again and placing his feet on the concrete floor.

Daryl frowned in worry, "What's wrong?" He asked softly, searching his friend's face.

Jesus sighed heavily, "My visit fucking sucked," Jesus hissed, looking up at him for a moment.

Daryl sat up and leaned against the wall, "What happened?" He asked, and he had no idea if Jesus would actually want to talk about it, but he wanted the man to know he was okay with it.

"Well, Alex admitted to me that he has been cheating on me pretty much the entire time I've been in here," He snapped, squeezing his hands fists.

Daryl winced, becoming filled with sympathy for the younger man. Daryl had been cheated on before by the first man he had ever loved, Martinez, they were together for three years, and broke up when Daryl caught a man in their bed when he came home from work a few hours early. It had only been that one time Martinez insisted, but once was enough for Daryl, he couldn't trust him anymore. He remembered that it had fucking hurt like a knife to the chest and that he was heartbroken.

"I'm sorry," Daryl said softly, "I've been on the receiving end too, it sucks," he admitted, wanting Jesus to know that he did understand.

Jesus looked up at him, "Me and Alex have been together for six years, two before I got locked up, and the four that I've been in here," He began to explain, "I never asked him to wait around for me. I tried to break up with him when I was sentenced to my five years, but he didn't want it, he said he wanted to stay together, and we could manage through the phone calls, regular visits and the two conjugal visits I'd get a year,"

Daryl furrowed his brows in confusion, "Sorry, conjugal visit?" He couldn't help himself from asking; he had never heard of the term before.

Jesus' lips turned in a tiny smirk, "About two times a year, we can apply for a conjugal visit. It's a type of visit where you get three hours in a private room that's guarded from the outside, and basically, you can fuck,"

Daryl's brows raised and he felt his cheeks flush, "Oh, I didn't even know that was a thing,"

Jesus nodded, "It's only legal in five states. Anyway, back to Alex," He said, "It's not even the cheating that I'm most mad about, it's just... I wish that he would of fucking told me, instead of leading me on for four fucking years,"

Daryl nodded, and though he'd been cheated on before, the situation was different to Jesus'. Daryl was only cheated on once and knew about it almost straight away, but Paul didn't have that luxury.

"That understandable," Daryl said softly, "It was a real fucking shitty thing for him to do, he didn't deserve you," he said the last part softly, and tilted his head down but looked up at Jesus through his lashes.

Jesus looked up at him and smiled softly, "Thanks, Dixon," he said softly, some of his wet hair falling in front of his eyes.

Daryl smiled back and then laid flat back down on his bed. He can hear the shuffling of covers that let him know that Jesus was following his lead. Within a few minutes, he could hear that Jesus' breathing had evened out and that the man had fallen asleep.

Daryl tossed and turned for several minutes, he felt bad for Paul, and it was clear that the man was upset about what had happened. Daryl had the urge to find wherever the fuck Alex was and beat the shit out him for hurting his friend, though he knew Paul could also do that himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know conjugal visits are only legal in California, New York, Washington, and Connecticut, but for the sake of this fic, we're going to pretend they are legal in Virginia too.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michonne and Rick visit Daryl.

Daryl was tapping his foot anxiously against the concrete floor of his cell and slapping his hands against his thighs. He was nervous and excited at the same time. He was finally going to see Rick and Michonne again; it was his visit day.

He hadn't seen the husband and wife since he was put in prison a month previous. He was excited because he loved them both and he was used to seeing them both every couple of days, so to have gone a whole month, was hard. He was nervous because they were about to see him in prison, see him walk out into the visiting quarters followed by guards, wearing a bright orange jumpsuit.

He was waiting for one of the guards to come and collect him and escort him to the visiting quarters, but judging by the time on his watch, ten past ten, the guard was fifteen minutes late.

He finally groaned impatiently and punched his mattress as he stood up to pace around. He found himself on the other side of the cell, Jesus' side, and looking at the man's belongs.

He smiled at the drawing that Jesus seemed to be currently working on, the reference photo beside it. The photo showed a forest, with a wolf in the middle of it, it's head bent to the sky in a howling pose. Jesus' talent had amazed him since he had first seen the man's art, his ability to create what Daryl would describe as masterpieces using only a couple of led pencils, was amazing in Daryl's opinion, though Jesus always seemed to be modest about it.

He looked up from the drawing, and to the other things that were taped to the wall above the small desk. There were a few drawings that Daryl recognised as Jesus', many that appeared to be done by a child, and Daryl wondered if Jesus had a kid that he hadn't told him about.

Then, he saw a photo where a pretty brunette, a handsome Asian man, and a young biracial child were sat on a log and smiling at the camera. Daryl figured that that was the child that did the drawings, as he didn't see photos of any other kids.

He looked at a few more photos, one of Jesus on top of a black horse, going over a tall jump. Jesus standing with the brunette at a fancy event as Jesus was in a suit and the woman in a long blue gown, another of Jesus crouching down beside the child, both of them in martial arts uniforms.

His attention was caught when a slapping noise against the concrete wall of his cell, met his ears. He looked behind him and found Ford standing in the doorway to his cell, smiling softly at him.

"Sorry that I'm late," He said and motioned for Daryl to follow him out of the cell, which he did, "Some, assholes decided to get in a fight over whose book was whose in their cell; a damn book was worth breaking each other's noses over apparently,"

Daryl's lips quirked slightly, and he walked as fast as he could without overtaking the orange-headed guard beside him.

* * *

It took them several minutes to reach the visiting quarters, and Daryl eagerly entered the large room, Ford following along behind him.

The room was full of tables, all with varying amounts of chairs, depending on how many visitors a prisoner had.

Daryl looked around, and after a few moments, his eyes finally settled on Rick and Michonne on the other side of the room. They were sat with their backs to him, but he recognised them by Michonne's locks and Rick's curls.

He rushed over to them, Ford settling himself against a wall to watch over all the inmates and visitors, to make sure that nobody would try anything.

Hearing him approaching, both Rick and Michonne turned their heads, and then stood up when they confirmed that it was him. He fell into Michonne's arms first as she was closer than Rick. Her long, toned arms wrapped around his neck and held him close. His arms wound around her waist and held her to him as he squeezed his eyes closed and rested his temple against hers.

They hugged for a long while before he pulled away from her so he could collapse into his brother's arms instead. Their bodies molded together as they held each other as close and as tight as they possibly could, Daryl's face buried in Rick's neck and one of the man's hands cupping the back of his head.

"Fuckin' missed you," Daryl whimpered out, not able to stop the couple of tears that leaked from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.

He heard Rick huff a soft laugh, and the man squeezed him harder and moved his hand that was in his hair to his back, where he patted him affectionately, "I missed you too, brother," He said quietly and took Daryl a little by surprise when he kissed his head.

They pulled away from each other then, and Michonne directed them both to sit down at the little four-seat table, Rick and Michonne on one side and Daryl opposite them.

"Fuck," Michonne finally said, her full lips spread in a wide smile that lit up her whole face, "It's good to see your face, Daryl, so good,"

Daryl's lips twitched in a little smile, and he looked down at where he was fiddling with his fingers, "Good to see yours too," He replied.

Michonne grinned, and reached across the table to squeeze his hand for a moment, "How are things?" She asked, relaxing back her seat when Rick's arm found its way around her shoulders.

Daryl shrugged, "Okay, I guess. My boss is still an asshole, but not too bad, most of the guards and other inmates are okay, the ones I've been around at least,"

"What about your cellmate? Are you and him still getting along?" He asked, rubbing the palm of his hand over the spiky stubble on his chin.

Daryl nodded, looking out the window that the table was pushed up against, "Yeah, he's still as friendly as ever," he replied, a little smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

Michonne grinned while Rick frowned a little, "Has he told you what he's in for yet?" he asked after a few moments, tapping his fingers against the plastic top of the table.

Daryl shook his head and shifted in his seat a little, crossing one leg over the other, "Naw, he hasn't, and he doesn't need to, can tell he's a good guy,"

Rick sighed, almost like he thought Daryl was naive, "I can search him up at the station, find what he's in for if you want to know. If you want to know for sure," he offered, looking at Daryl almost pleadingly, it was clear that he was concerned about his safety.

Daryl shook his head, "He's my friend, Rick. I can't go behind his back like that, would lose his trust," Daryl replied quietly, and god knows Jesus had already had his trust violated enough when he found out his boyfriend of six years had been cheating on him.

Rick huffed, but nodded, "Okay, it's your choice. Let me know if you change your mind,"

"I will," Daryl agreed, even though he knew he wouldn't take him up on it, "How are the kids?" He asked after a few moments, curious as to how his little godchildren were, even if one of them wasn't so little anymore.

Rick smiled at that, "They're great, Carl's topping the class in English and Math, Judith loves gymnastics, and RJ is slowly starting to like Kindergarten,"

"But he would still much rather be at home," Michonne chuckled softly.

Daryl smiled, a small pang of pain in his gut at not being able to see the kids for the last month, and for the next four. Rick and Michonne had said that they were would be okay with bringing the kids in to visit Daryl, but he had refused, he didn't want the kids around the prison, he was okay with just talking to them on the phone.

They talked about the kids for a while longer, and then entered a stretch of quiet for a minute or so.

Daryl was playing with his hands, and when he looked up for a moment and caught Rick and Michonne stealing a kiss, he cleared his throat softly to get their attention, "I think I like him," he said softly.

"Huh?" Michonne said, furrowing her brows as she looked at him.

"Jesus, my cellmate, I think I like him," he said it quietly to make sure none of the other inmates around them heard.

He noticed how both Michonne and Rick's brows raised, "Romantically?" Michonne said after a few seconds, and Daryl nodded, "Well, what are you going to do about it?"

Daryl shrugged, "I know he's gay, told me that on my first day, as well as making sure he could kick my ass,"

Rick shifted in his seat and rested his elbow on the table and his chin in his palm, "Does he know you're gay?" He asked, matching Daryl's quiet tone.

"I ain't told him, but he and Raleigh probably know anyway,"

"Raleigh nice too?" Michonne asked, and Daryl nodded, "Well, leave it to you to join a gay club in prison," She joked, and all three of them snorted with laughter.

There was no more chat of Jesus or anything about the fact that he was in prison after that, Rick told Daryl about the current case he was working on, and Michonne filled him in one some entertaining drama from her office.

When one of the guards called that visiting time was up, Daryl hugged his two best friends goodbye, and that time he managed not to cry.

Ford was quiet as he led Daryl back to his cellblock. It was great being able to see Rick and Michonne, and not just talk to them over the phone, but it made him feel even worse about having to return through the doors and into the part of the prison where civilians were not permitted.

He wished he could go and lay in his bunk and feel sorry for himself, but he had to get work, and didn't have the luxury of getting to cry his eyes out for a few hours.

He said goodbye politely to Ford when they reached the timber manufacture designated area, and then they both got on with their work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daryl is a lil cutie and I love him, also sorry for no Jesus in this chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl runs into Gareth again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING IN END NOTES

Work had felt to be never-ending that day, the hours stretching on and the clock hand seemed like it only moved every ten seconds instead of one.

He was relieved when they were finally excused from their workbenches to head back to their cellblocks. While some people waited until after dinner to shower, Daryl usually went straight after work, depending on how dirty or sweaty he had gotten that day.

That day, lacquer, dust, and timber shavings covered his uniform, and he felt itchy and gross, so he went to his and Jesus' cell and retrieved a clean uniform before he headed to the bathrooms to shower.

He was relieved to see that there weren't many people in the bathroom, but immediately felt his gut churning when he noticed Gareth was in one of the shower stalls.

Daryl walked over to the furthest stall from Gareth, without being weirdly too close to the other man in the shower.

The showers were little stalls about a meter by a meter, with tiled walls on both sides and then a small door on the door the back, with the shower head attached to the full wall at the front. The walls were only waist high, depending on someone's height, so they had very little to no privacy.

Daryl hung his towel on the little rack on the door, and his clean clothes on the small shelf before he stepped inside the stall. He pulled his clothes off and placed them on the shelf as well; he felt his face burn red. He hated the showers, how exposed he was forced to be. If someone was in the stall next to him, they could easily see all of his body, and it had happened on occasions with some of the more perverted inmates.

Usually, he and Jesus would shower at the same time. It wasn't for any reason that Daryl knew of, but he knew that having Jesus there with him made him feel safer.

Daryl could feel his skin was crawling the entire time he was in the shower; he knew that Gareth's gaze was on him.

He showered as quickly as possible, scrubbing his skin as hard as he could so that it would get cleaner quicker. Once he was done, he reached for his towel and dried himself off while still in the stall. Remaining in the stall, made it much harder and most people chose to do it outside of the stall, but Daryl usually didn't unless he was with either Jesus or Raleigh.

After drying himself and getting dressed, Daryl left the bathroom as quickly as he could and made his way back to his cell. He placed his dirty clothes and towel away and spent a few minutes tidying up his cell before he left it again. He knew that he wouldn't see Jesus until sometime later in the evening as the man had his psychiatrist's appointment after work, and Raleigh was also having a visiting hour with his husband and daughter.

After he had done the cleaning, he left his cell.

* * *

Daryl pushed the heavy door to the yard open and stepped outside. A soft breeze greeted him, as well as birds from the nearby woods. He was able to enjoy it for all of five seconds before he was grabbed from behind, an arm around his waist and a hand over his mouth.

He was pulled behind where a concrete wall extended out from the entry into the yard, Daryl had never known why it was there, maybe a mistake with the building.

Daryl was shoved hard up against the concrete wall, shielded from the eyes of everyone else in the yard.

Daryl looked up at who had grabbed him and felt his stomach drop when his eyes settled on Gareth. His stomach quickly worked its way into knots, and he knew that whatever was happening, wasn't going to go down well.

"Hey, Daryl," Gareth said, his voice slimy and a disgusting smirk on his face and Daryl struggled against his hold, "How was your day?" He asked sarcastically and removed his hand from Daryl's mouth.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Daryl hissed, shoving against the man's chest, but the only thing it did, was make Gareth reach up and grab Daryl by the throat.

"You're gonna want to shut the fuck up, and not do that again," He hissed, eyes full of anger, but it was clear he was enjoying it. After a few moments, Gareth leaned forward, and Daryl squirmed when the man shoved his face in his neck and began kissing and sucking at his throat, "You taste fucking good,"

That sent a shudder down Daryl's spine as Raleigh's previous words swam through his head, 'He murdered a guy and then cooked and ate him,'

Daryl wanted to throw up at the feeling of having a cannibal kiss and suck at his neck, Gareth pulled back after a few seconds, lifting his knee to pin Daryl to the wall by his crotch, any movent forward or to the side, excruciating.

"Get the fuck away from me," Daryl said, and it came out weaker than he wanted it to, it was full of fear, and he knew that Gareth could hear it.

Daryl struggled against him again, but that earned him a hard squeeze to his throat that cut off his air supply for a full thirty seconds.

Gareth moved very close to his face before he spoke to him again, "You wanna a good, pretty boy, and get down on your knees unless you want me to make this so much worse for you and then tell everyone about you, so it'll happen again," The words sent fear coursing through Daryl, the instructions and the threats.

Gareth looked at him expectantly, a smirk on his lips and his brows raised. Daryl wanted to cry.

When Gareth squeezed his throat again, Daryl did as he was told and got down on his knees as Gareth began opening his jumpsuit.

* * *

Daryl was still shaking when he got back to the cell. The tears had dried on his cheeks, and he could still taste it in his mouth.

He immediately pulled his shoes off and then collapsed down onto his bunk. He pulled the covers over himself, right over his head, like it made him invisible and that he was safe under the covers.

He felt sick to his stomach. He wrapped his arms around himself, pulled his legs up to his chest and squeezed his eyes closed, trying to block everything out as he sobbed silently.

* * *

He was woken up two hours later, by the blanket being pulled off his head, and a rough hand cupping his cheek.

He blinked his puffy eyes open and was met with Jesus crouching down in front of his bed, looking at him with his brows pulled together in concern and a frown on his plump lips.

"What's wrong?" Jesus asked softly, pushing some hair back from Daryl's face and he leaned into the touch, savoring the gentleness of it.

Daryl shook his head after a few moments, "Nothin'," He said softly.

"It doesn't seem like nothing, why are you asleep at seven-thirty?"

Daryl shrugged and rolled away from Jesus and onto his back, but he followed him and sat down on the edge of his mattress, "I'm fine, just had a shit day," He said softly, looking over at Jesus again, found the man was full of worry.

The long-haired man nodded after a moment, "Do you want to come and have dinner with Raleigh and me?" He asked softly, stroking his fingers along Daryl's arm aimlessly.

Daryl shook his head. He didn't want food. He didn't want to see other people. He didn't want leave to leave the cell, and he didn't want Jesus to go either.

Jesus sighed and then stood up from the bed, "I haven't eaten since breakfast, so I need to go and get something, I won't be long, okay?"

"Okay," Daryl replied and watched as Jesus left their cell.

He curled up under the blanket again, facing the concrete wall and willing himself to go to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING!!!  
> In this chapter, a non-consensual blow job is given and rape is threatened. The blow job is not written explicitly, but it is still clear that it happened.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl and Jesus get to know each other a little, and Daryl has another appointment with Carol.

Daryl was exhausted, and the day had barely even started at that point. He made his way through the cafeteria with Jesus, they had just retrieved their food and were searching for a table with enough seats for the two of them and for Raleigh to join them when he reached the cafeteria from his cell.

"How was your visiting hour yesterday?" Daryl asked as the weaved through tables.

Jesus shrugged, "Alex was there, he tried to apologize to me, but I wanted none of it, so I asked a guard to escort him out. Other than that, it was great seeing Maggie and Hershel,"

Daryl by then knew that Maggie was Jesus' main visitor and his best friend, but he didn't know if Hershel was her son or her husband. Jesus really only ever talked about Maggie.

"Who's Hershel?" Daryl decided to ask, his hip bumping painfully into a table.

"Maggie's son," Jesus replied, pointing when he finally spotted a table on the other side of the cafeteria, "He's a real' sweet thing, he's seven. Gets so excited everytime he gets to see me,"

Daryl smiled, "I got three god kids, Carl, Judith, and RJ, but I only speak to them on the phone. I don't really want them to be around this place,"

Jesus nodded, looking over at him, "That's what I wanted too, but it was Maggie and Glenn's decision, and they were fine with bringing him in, but not too often,"

They finally reached the table, they sat down and began to eat.

"Did you sleep okay last night?" Jesus asked after a few moments, "I heard you tossing and turning for hours," he added.

Daryl looked up at him for a few moments and felt his cheeks flush as he began picking at pieces of his bread roll as he shrugged. He had fallen asleep easily and quickly, but once he had fallen asleep, it was full of nightmares and memories. Specifically, of what Gareth had done to him a month previous. Gareth hadn't physically bothered him since he still noticed the man sent him gross looks in the shower, whispered crude things in his ears sometimes if he got close enough, but he hadn't tried anything again.

Coming to think of it, Daryl hadn't seen the man around for what could be almost two weeks; he wasn't sure. He decided to bring it up.

"Did something happen to Gareth? I haven't seen him around in a while,"

Jesus nodded, and rested one leg over the other under the table, "Yeah, he was caught being violent towards his cellmate, he got a couple of weeks down in the hole,"

Daryl quirked his brow a little and nodded in understanding, "He bloody deserves it," He said.

Jesus hummed, "He sure did," He replied, grinning a little at him, "Come on, let's talk about something else that doesn't involve creepy cannibals,"

"What do you have in mind?"

Jesus shrugged and leaned in his chair, "Well, how old are your godkids?"

Daryl smiled a little at that, "Carl's sixteen, Judith is five, and RJ is about to turn one. Just started talking,"

Paul smirked, "I remember when Hershel started talking, he said his first word when I was babysitting him, said 'Cake,' I remember how disappointed Maggie and Glenn were when they realized they missed it, but I did manage to get it on video,"

"Judith's first word was 'shit,' think it was probably mine or Carl's fault," He said, a soft smirk pulling at his lips.

Jesus grinned back, "I love kids," He said fondly, "Especially when they're toddlers, they're like tiny drunk adults,"

Daryl laughed softly and reached for his cup of water, "Mhm, sounds about right,"

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Jesus spoke again, "Where're you from? Your accent makes me curious,"

"South Georgia, a tiny-ass town with nothing good in it,"

"Well, you were there, so there's at least one thing," Jesus said in a way that sounded a whole lot like flirting to Daryl's ears.

Daryl smiled softly, and he felt his cheek flush, "I live in Virginia now, have since I was twenty-three," he said, "How 'bout you?"

"I live in Virginia too, well, I did four years ago, and hope to when I get out," Jesus explained.

It was then that Raleigh appeared, dropping his tray down onto the surface of the table they sat at, and then held onto Jesus' shoulder for balance as he climbed onto his seat.

"How are we boys?" He asked, shoving a couple of cubes of apple into his mouth and chewing immediately.

"Just fine," Jesus said, offering him a warm smile, Daryl nodded in agreement.

The three of them chatted for a while longer until Daryl had to leave for his psychiatrist's appointment, he said goodbye to the two men as he passed them, patting their shoulders affectionately before making his way out of the cafeteria.

* * *

Daryl sighed as he sat down in the comfortable armchair in front of Carol's desk, and she smiled at him.

"Hello, Daryl, how have you been?" She asked him warmly, folding her hands on top of the wooden surface of her desk.

He relaxed back into his chair, pushing hair back from his face, "Alright," he replied quietly.

"Is something wrong?" The woman asked, her blue eyes searching his own for answers.

Daryl shrugged, "Just missin' my family now. The first month was okay, but this second one..."

"That's the most common problem people have here, missing their family," She told him.

Daryl hummed softly and began fiddling with his fingers, "Yeah,"

"Do you see them often?" She asked quietly, smiling gently at him.

Daryl nodded, "Every couple of weeks usually, but not the kids. I don't want them here, I just speak to them on the phone,"

"Does it upset you when you go for your visiting hours?" She asked, having pulled out a notepad from her top desk drawer and beginning to write.

Daryl shrugged, "It's great when it's happening, getting to see and talk to them. But every time I have to leave, knowing I won't see them again for a while, that's what's shit," He explained, his voice quiet and nervous as he wasn't exactly used to sharing his feelings with people.

He and Carol talked quietly for the next hour until his session was over and he was able to leave to go to work. He didn't know if he liked his psychiatrist's appointments or not. Carol was lovely, but he didn't so much like all of the talking that he had to do.

Either way, he didn't have a choice and had to attend them, so he may as well get over it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bit of a boring chapter...


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl and Jesus have a moment.

It was a hot day, the sun was beating down on them from above, and Daryl knew that he was going to get sunburnt. He couldn't bring himself to care, the burning heat of the sun against his face and bare arms made him feel good. In a way, it reminded him that he wasn't going to be behind the prison walls forever, that in possibly three months, he'd be free again.

While it made him almost ecstatic that he got to leave soon, there was a sadness that he wasn't going to see Jesus and Raleigh every day. Raleigh had told him a couple of days previous that he got out in four months, and would return to his home in the city of Richmond, so he'd be reasonably close that Daryl could still see him. He could come back to the prison and visit Jesus too if the man wanted him to do so, that was.

As if Jesus knew where his train of thought was, he looked up at him from where he sat on the yard's grass, "How long until you get out?" He asked, the soft breeze fluttering his hair around his face.

Daryl shifted where he was on one of the picnic benches, and met Jesus' eyes. "I got sentenced to eight months, but I'm most likely going to get out on parole after five. So either five or three months," He replied, scratching his blunt fingernails up and down his arm distractedly.

Jesus smiled softly, but Daryl could see the way his face fell a little before he did, "Well, for your sake, I hope that it's three. Get out of this fucking hellhole,"

"Yeah, I want to," Daryl replied, resting his chin on his pulled up knees and yawning, "It could have been longer, but the judge believed that I had no intention to use or sell the cocaine, which was true. Could have gotten another couple of years if he thought I was lying.

"Well, it does kind of suck that I'll only get three more months with the best cellmate I've ever had before I'm probably stuck with someone asshole again," Jesus said, sighing dramatically and frowning as he began to pull his hair up into a knot. The breeze constantly blowing the long chestnut strands into his face must have been annoying him.

Daryl watched him for a few moments, smiling sadly, "How much longer do you have?" he asked quietly, unsure as to how Jesus would react at the question.

Daryl hadn't asked anything about the man's sentence before, how long he was in, how long he had left, what he was in for. He figured that Jesus would have told him if he wanted to, but they were right on the topic of it, so Daryl decided to ask anyway.

Jesus' reaction was to sigh heavily and rub his palm over the scruff of his beard; it reminded him of how Rick did it.

"I've got seven more months," He answered after being quiet for several long moments, "You know, sometimes it feels like it's never going to end, that I'm going to be fucking stuck in here forever. But after four years and five months, seven months isn't that long I guess," He added after a few moments, scratching his arm.

"I thought five or eight months was bad; I can't imagine having had to be here for five years," Daryl said quietly, shaking his head.

It suddenly entered his mind that when Daryl got out of prison in three months, and then when Raleigh got out a month later, Jesus would be on his own again. Daryl knew that Jesus had a couple of other friends throughout the prison, but he didn't appear to be close to them like he was with Daryl and Raleigh.

"Yeah, it fucking sucks," Jesus sighed, "Don't do something stupid and get your ass thrown back in here after you get out," He said sternly, looking up at Daryl.

"I'll only come back to see you," Daryl replied quietly, a red flush on his cheeks as he nervously fiddled with his hands.

Jesus' head snapped up to look at him from where he had been looking off into the distance. His brows were furrowed, and he had a frown on his plump lips.

"What?" He said, a tone of surprise in his voice.

Daryl felt some nervous swell in his gut, "Well after I got out, I planned on coming and visiting you since I live so close," He said quietly, biting at the hangnails around his thumb nervously, "I won't if you don't want me to," He added a few seconds later.

Jesus looked at him a few seconds later and then shook his head, "No, I uh... I'd really like that. I don't have visitors other than Maggie, Glenn, and Hershel, it'd be nice to see you too," Jesus said, and Daryl noticed that the man looked shy almost, a subtle flush on his cheeks.

Daryl's lips turned in a little smile, "I just figured that since Raleigh's getting out just after me, you might wanna see a familiar face," he said softly.

Jesus smiled at him, "Yeah, it would be great. Try and stay in touch and all that,"

"Of course we'll stay in touch," Daryl replied and felt happiness spread through him when Jesus laid back down on the grass, resting his hands behind his head and smiling up at the sky.

"I can't wait to get out of here," Jesus said after a few moments of them sitting in silence.

"Me too," Daryl replied, sighing softly and then standing up from the picnic table, "Come on, they'll be calling us in in a few minutes," He said to the younger man.

Jesus smirked up at him, squinting at the glare from the sun and shielding his eyes, "Help me up," He said after a few seconds and held his palm up for Daryl to take, which he did.

Jesus' hand was warm in his own and his long fingers wrapped around's Daryl's hand. Daryl found himself enjoying the feeling of the younger man's hand in his own. He grunted as he pulled Jesus up to his feet, despite his average height, the man was very heavy.

"Thanks," Jesus said, patting Daryl's back and then beginning to make his way to the door that led back inside of the prison, and Daryl followed right behind him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesus gets in some trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING IN END NOTES!!!

_Rough hands on his shoulders pushing him to the ground, a hand grabbing his hair and pulling it hard enough to hurt. Gareth's cock being shoved into his mouth and down his throat, the man's instructions to 'make it good.' Thick liquid spurting down his throat, making him choke._

Daryl gasped himself awake in his bunk, sitting up so fast it made his head spin, and he rubbed at his temples as he squeezed his eyes closed as he tried to push the images of what had happened to him a month previous out of his mind.

He knew he was safe though, from Gareth at least. After once again assaulting his cellmate, he had enough offenses and was seen as dangerous enough to be moved into a more high-security area of the prison. But, that still didn't save him from what the man had already done to him.

Jesus' voice broke him out of his trance, "Dixon!" He said from the other side of the cell where he was sitting up in his own bed.

Daryl looked over at him, and light from the walkway between cells spilled into the cell just enough that Daryl could make out the younger man's facial features.

"Dixon," He repeated now that he had his attention.

"Yeah?" Daryl replied dumbly, running his hands through his hair, found that it was a sweaty mess.

"Dixon, are you okay?" He asked softly, and Daryl could make out the frown on his face in the dim light.

Daryl managed to nod curtly, after staying still for several long moments and lay back down on his back in the bed. He arranged the covers back over himself to keep warm.

"Are you sure?" Jesus repeated, and Daryl looked over at him again, and he found that the man was still sat up and looking at him.

"Go back to sleep," Daryl grunted, folding one of his arms behind his head, "I'm sorry I woke you," he added softly after a few quiet moments, his eyes glued to the concrete roof above him. He began to count the cracks in it as an attempt to keep his mind occupied.

"Don't apologize," Jesus replied quietly, and Daryl finally heard the shuffling of the man laying back down on his mattress, "Nightmare?" He asked a few seconds later, his voice gentle in the quiet of their cellblock.

Daryl huffed, "Yeah," he answered after a few seconds.

Jesus was quiet for a while, "I get them too," he said, "Nothing to feel bad about, it happens sometimes. Can't stop them,"

Daryl sighed because he knew that the younger man's words were true, that he shouldn't feel sorry for having nightmares because as Jesus said, he couldn't prevent them from happening.

"Go back to sleep," Daryl repeated, closing his own eyes again as his gut churned with the memories that swam around in his head.

He heard Jesus sigh heavily from across the cell, "Okay, if you don't want to talk," He said, and then Daryl watched as the man rolled onto his side so that his back was facing him, "Goodnight, I hope you sleep better," he told him gently.

* * *

He knew something had gone wrong as he made his way back to the cellblock after work. He hadn't seen Jesus all day, not since the man had finished his breakfast and left the table that the two of them and Raleigh were sat at.

He hadn't turned up to the cafeteria at lunch, or come out to the yard during their designated hours, and Daryl was worried. He hadn't seen Raleigh in the yard either, but he knew that the man was having a visiting hour with his husband and daughter.

Daryl decided to go and find Raleigh before they headed off to dinner. He made his way down the cellblock towards Raleigh's cell, hoping that the man's cellmate wasn't in there as he did, he hated the cellmate, he was creepy, and he never failed to make Daryl feel uneasy.

It didn't take long for him to get to the cell, and he was flooded with relief when he found that Raleigh was in the cell, and his creepy cellmate wasn't. He knocked against the wall so that the man heard him, and the curly-headed man turned around to look at him from where he was organising the stack of books on his desk.

"Hey," The tall brunette greeted him cheerfully.

"Hi," Daryl said as he stepped into the cell.

"Can I help you with something? Or are we heading to dinner now?" He asked, leaning his back against his desk and cracking his knuckles for no apparent reason.

Daryl sighed and pushed some hair back from his eyes, and he crossed his arms over his orange jumpsuit, "Have you seen Jesus? I ain't seen him since breakfast, gettin' kind of worried,"

Raleigh furrowed his brows, "No, I haven't seen him since breakfast either. He doesn't have any meetings or appointments scheduled today; he's not getting any visitors either," Raleigh said, and it was clear that he was also confused about Jesus' whereabouts.

Daryl huffed, "Where could he be then?" he asked, quirking his brows at Raleigh.

"I think Ford's just down the block at the phones; we'll go see if he has any idea where he is," Raleigh said, pushing himself off the desk and then stepping past him to exit the cell.

Daryl followed him eagerly.

"Boys," Ford greeted them when he saw them approaching, smiling under his mutton chops, "What can I do for you?" He asked when they came to a stop in front of him.

Raleigh sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, "Do you have any idea where Jesus is? We haven't seen him since breakfast," He asked, brows pulled together.

Ford looked at them sadly for a moment and sighed, "I'm afraid so boys," He started, and Daryl immediately felt his gut churn with concern, "He got into a fight at his work, he's gotten a couple of days down in solitary confinement,"

Daryl's brows raised in surprise and he heard Raleigh sigh loudly, "Fuck," the curly haired man sighed, "How bad is it?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Ford replied.

"Is his sentence going to be increased at all? Is going to be moved to a more high-security area of the prison?" Raleigh specified, and at the mention of those two things, Daryl felt his nerves increase. He really didn't want Jesus to be in any more trouble.

Ford quickly shook his head, "No it doesn't look like he'll get any more punishment than the few days down there. He didn't start the fight; he was actually trying to break it up, but according to him, unless he wanted broken bones he had to start defending himself,"

Both men let out a sigh of relief, thanked Ford, and then walked away from him, making their way to the cafeteria to have their dinner.

"Bloody, Jesus, sometimes he should just stay out of it," Raleigh sighed as they lined up, trays in hand.

Daryl hummed, "He's damn lucky all he's getting in a couple of days down there," He said, slowly walking along with the line as people's food was served.

"That's the truth," Raleigh said, and they finally reached the food, the kitchen staff serving food onto their trays as they walked down along the line.

"How was your visit today?" Daryl asked, wanting to take his mind of Jesus for a couple of minutes. He wasn't looking forward to sleeping by himself in the cell.

A smile immediately broke out over Raleigh's features, "It was great, Eric brought little Gracie with him, she keeps getting bigger, it's driving me crazy that I'm missing it," He said.

Daryl related to that, "How old is she?" He asked.

"She's five, me and Eric adopted her when she was five months," He told him, and they had begun searching for a table to sit out.

"My youngest godson just turned one, Rick Jr, named after his daddy," Daryl said, smiling a little at the thought of the young boy, how much he missed him.

Aaron smiled fondly, and they finally found a table and sat themselves down, "I miss when Gracie was that little," He said fondly and began eating his meal.

Daryl hummed, and starting eating also, swallowing down mouthfuls of soup.

They ate quietly for a few moments before Daryl spoke up again, "Alex," He started, and that seemed to get Raleigh's attention quickly, "Jesus broke up with him didn't he?"

Raleigh nodded, "Yeah, he did. Why's that?" He replied, looking at Daryl curiously as he picked off pieces of his bread roll.

Daryl shrugged awkwardly, looked down as an attempt to hide his red cheeks, "Just wonderin'," He replied, hoping Raleigh would believe it, which of course he didn't.

"You like him, don't you?" Raleigh said, and when Daryl looked up at him, he found a small smirk spread over his lips under his beard.

Daryl felt his gut swirl with butterflies, and his cheeks heated up even further, "Yeah, guess," He grunted, shrugging and shoving food into his mouth.

Raleigh laughed softly at his reaction but didn't push the matter any further, and the rest of their dinner conversation consisted of Raleigh's daughter and Daryl's godkids.

* * *

Four days later, Daryl was making his way back into his cell after he had finished work.

His lips quirked in a small smile when he walked inside and found that Jesus was there, that he had gotten out of the hole.

"Hi, Dixon," Jesus greeted him happily, standing up from where he was sat on his bed.

"Hey," Daryl replied, looking down shyly when Jesus stepped a little closer to him.

Jesus grinned, "You missed me?" He asked playfully as he folded his arms over his chest.

"Yeah," Daryl replied immediately and smiled a little when shock spread over Jesus' face like he hadn't expected Daryl to answer.

Jesus composed himself quickly, "Well, I missed you too," He said, "Come on, let's go out to the yard, I haven't felt the sun in four days," he told him and hurried out of the cell, and Daryl noticed the red flush on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING!!!  
> In the first paragraph of this chapter, a nightmare that Daryl has about the blow job he was forced to give Gareth, is briefly described.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesus shares with Daryl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter ya'll have been waiting for. 
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING BELOW!!!!  
> Rape/Non-con & Violence is talked about in this chapter. For a more in detail trigger warning (it contains spoilers) scroll down to the end notes xx

The prison was quiet, it was an hour or so after lights out, and there was still some people chatting. Most of the guards on their cellblock had given up on them all trying to go to sleep at eleven and allowed them to stay awake and talk, as long as they weren't too loud and kept their lights off.

Jesus' soft voice suddenly filtered through the cool air of their cell and to Daryl's ears, "What's your first name?" He asked, his voice soft and even a little sleepy.

Daryl looked over at him, and he could vaguely make out the man's shape on the other side of the cell under the covers.

"Daryl," He replied, licking his lips and wondering why Jesus had decided that night to ask him that question.

"Daryl," Jesus said, and it seemed like it was testing his name out on his tongue, "That suits you, means 'dear' and 'beloved,' makes sense,"

Daryl felt his cheeks flush deeply, "How the hell do you know what my name means?" he asked, a small smile on his lips.

Jesus laughed softly, "Back from when Maggie found out she was pregnant with Hershel, we spent hours going through baby books and looking online, trying to find a name for him. We saw so many; I have no idea why I remembered the meaning for yours," He said thoughtfully, laughing softly after.

"What about you?" Daryl asked after a few moments, "What's your name? Ain't really Jesus is it?" He asked a little grin on his lips. He found himself full of curiosity, craving to know what Jesus' first name was.

Jesus was quiet for a while, "Paul," He finally said, sighing heavily afterward, "Paul Rovia," he added.

Daryl's lips turned up in a small smile, "That suits you too," Daryl said, and it really did, "Can't explain why it just does," he said softly, and Jesus chuckled at his reply.

"I don't know what it means, I know we saw it, I just can't remember for the life of me,"

Daryl hummed softly, and the two of them fell silent for several minutes before Daryl heard shuffling, and he looked over and found Jesus climbing out of his bed, and then making his way over to him.

"What're you doin'?" Daryl asked when Jesus reached his bed.

He raised his brows when Jesus began climbing onto the mattress, "Sitting with you," He replied matter of factly, and he sat himself down by Daryl's legs with his back against the wall, and his legs laid over his own.

Daryl felt butterflies stir in his stomach from the contact, and he shifted so that he was propped up against his pillow so that he could see the man a little better.

Daryl analyzed the man's face. He had a frown on his plump, pink lips, and he wanted to kiss it off. His brows, brows that were thick and always wild and unkempt, were furrowed together. He had his hands in his lap and was twiddling his long fingers together.

"What's wrong?" Daryl asked quietly, Jesus didn't seem to be acting right. He seemed nervous and on edge.

Jesus turned his head and looked at him, his wide blue-green eyes boring into his own. He sighed heavily and pushed some of his long hair behind his ears when it fell in front of his face.

"Do you want to know?" He said, his voice serious in the quiet of their cell.

Daryl's brows furrowed in confusion, "Know what?" He asked dumbly.

"Do you want to know why I'm in here?" Jesus clarified, looking at Daryl for just a moment before he returned to staring out in front of him.

It shocked Daryl a little; he hadn't expected the man to ask him about it so upfront. He just guessed that if Jesus' reason for being put behind bars came up at all, it would have been because it had naturally slipped into the conversation.

"If you want to tell me," He answered softly after a few moments.

Jesus nodded, but it took him a while to say anything, "Assault and battery, property damage, and manslaughter. Together they got me the five years," he said finally.

Daryl didn't know what he expected, and he didn't even know if it was that. Despite two of Jesus' charges being violent, Daryl didn't find himself any less comfortable than what he had been when Jesus first sat on the bed with him.

"What were the circumstances?" He asked quietly, hoping it didn't sound like he was prying.

"I was on trial for manslaughter when two men from back in my twenties came forward because my trial was on the news," Jesus began to explain. It didn't seem possible for him to be able to meet Daryl's eyes, "Some guy I got in a bar fight with, I guess I fucked him up pretty bad, but he threw the first hit, and I had a lot of anger issues when I was younger. He had evidence of me breaking four of his ribs, his nose, and jaw. That got me the assault and battery,"

Daryl watched Jesus as he spoke, he had stopped fiddling with his fingers and was instead tightly gripping his pants.

"The property damage was from an old boyfriend. I fucked up his two cars real bad after I found out he was cheating on me. I guess he decided that he finally wanted his revenge,"

"Well, he deserved it if he cheated," Daryl said softly with a small smile, trying to lighten the mood a little, make Jesus feel more comfortable.

It seemed to work as he noticed Jesus' lips turn in a small smile.

"Yeah, that one I don't feel sorry about," He said, chuckling softly.

It went silent for several minutes, and Daryl guessed that Jesus might need a bit of encouragement.

"And the manslaughter?" He asked softly, and he found himself reaching his hand out to place it on Jesus' knee.

Jesus looked over at him, and his face was sad again, "Please don't think any different of me," he said softly, his voice almost pleading.

Daryl shook his head, "I won't," He whispered, and even though he couldn't completely guarantee that, he wasn't going to say that to Jesus.

Jesus nodded in appreciated and ran his hands over his face before he spoke, "I was at a gay bar, five months before I got sentenced. I was alone, me and Alex had had an argument, and I just felt like a drink," He began, "I was talking to this guy, me and Alex had hung out with him before, I thought he was a friend," Jesus took a pause, and Daryl noticed how the man swallowed a lump in his throat, "By the time I realised that he had spiked my drink it was too late. He got me back to his car easily, to everyone else I just looked like I was pissed drunk and he was helping me,"

Daryl felt his gut churn, and he could see where Jesus' recount was going.

"They told me in the hospital what I'd been drugged with, but I can't remember the name. Whatever it was, it made me lose control of my own body; I was basically dead weight, I couldn't even talk. It eventually knocked me just as we got back to his apartment," Jesus' chest had begun rising and falling a little faster, and Daryl saw him close his eyes.

"Hey," Daryl said softly, rubbing his hand over Jesus' knee, and before he could say anything else, Jesus had continued.

"I came back around the next morning. I was tied to a bed and naked, and it was obvious that I'd been..." He trailed off and shook his head, and Daryl felt his gut boiling, "I didn't remember what happened after I passed out, and I still don't. I untied myself and got dressed. Started searching through the apartment for him, as it turned out, he had a roommate, and the two of them were talking about how it would be 'his turn soon.' The roommate left, and I went out to the guy who'd drugged me. I attacked him, beat the absolute shit out of him, and I lost control, got a knife that was on the counter, started stabbing him, twenty-something times by the time I was done,"

Jesus paused again for several moments, and that time, Daryl didn't say anything, he just continued to rub Jesus' knee.

Jesus' voice was weaker when he started talking again, "The roommate came back, tried to pull me off him, and I stabbed him too. A neighbor heard everything and called the cops. By the time they showed up, I'd realised what I'd done and was having a panic attack against the wall, all covered in blood,"

"That doesn't make me feel different about you, Jesus," Daryl said softly when Jesus stopped.

Jesus looked over at him, and Daryl could see that the man's eyes were glassy, "I didn't tell you my real name for you to still call me Jesus," he said softly.

Daryl's lips turned in a small smile, "Paul," he said softly.

Jesus closed his eyes at that and turned his head away from him again, "Anyways... They both made it to the hospital, but the one who drugged me died after a few hours, and then the other a few days later. There was a lengthy investigation and an even longer trail. I don't know exactly how they concluded it as manslaughter; I zoned out for a lot of it. Maybe because the way in which I killed them was too violent for self-defense, and that the roommate hadn't done anything to me, and that really, and I claimed I entered a state where I wasn't even aware of what I was doing, which was true. Because of what they had done to me the night before. That I didn't mean to kill them and looking back now, I wish I didn't. It was a big complicated mess really, but I had a good lawyer. I just want to get out of here, so it can all go behind me,"

That seemed to be the end of Jesus' explanation, and Daryl almost felt sick to his stomach. It was wrong, so wrong, what the man had done to Jesus and what the roommate had also intended to do.

Before Daryl knew what he was doing, he had sat up and wrapped his arms around Jesus' shoulder. Jesus was stiff for several long moments before he tentatively wrapped his own arms around Daryl's waist and rested his head on his shoulder.

They stayed like that for a long time, Daryl carefully rubbing Jesus' back over the fabric of his clothes, and pretending that he didn't notice it jerked now and then.

When Jesus pulled away from him, Daryl immediately missed the contact, but he was taken by surprise when the younger man didn't go far.

Jesus locked his eyes right on Daryl's, they were a little red and still watery, and Daryl could see the man's cheeks were also flushed red. Daryl breathed softly out of his mouth, and Jesus licked his lips.

If asked, Daryl couldn't say who leaned in first. They seemed to have done it in sync, their lips meeting in a soft kiss as Jesus' moved his hand to cup the back of Daryl's neck.

The kiss remained soft for several moments before Daryl felt Jesus' tongue gently prodding at his lips asking for entrance, and Daryl happily gave it to him. He hummed softly as Jesus' tongue invaded his mouth and their kiss deepened. The younger man's beard scrapped along Daryl's face, and he loved it, he found himself reaching up and cupping Jesus' jaw so that he could feel the coarse hair beneath his palm.

The kiss lasted several long, wonderful minutes before it gradually came to an end and they pulled away from each other.

Jesus just looked at him for a while, blue-green orbs searching his own until Jesus sighed and smiled gently at him, and Daryl smiled back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING!!!  
> In this chapter, Jesus tells Daryl the story of how he ended up in prison. The story, involves him being drugged, kidnapped, and raped. Violence is also in the warning because Jesus stabs his attacker many times.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Daryl and Jesus have a visiting day.

It was another good day, another visiting day.

Both Daryl and Jesus had visitors on that day, Daryl had Rick and Tara, and Jesus had Maggie and Glenn, but no Hershel as he had school.

Daryl and Jesus walked down the corridor towards the visiting room together, a couple of guards, including Ford, led them to make sure they went where they were supposed to and that nobody tried anything.

Jesus and Daryl chatted casually as they walked, and Daryl had happy butterflies swirling around in his stomach the entire time.

Since their kiss the previous night, Daryl had been giddy happy. After the kiss, Jesus had sweetly wished him goodnight, thanked him for listening and then kissed his cheek before he crawled off his bed and then into his own.

And in the morning, he had been woken up by Jesus pushing some hair back from his face and reminding him that they should shower early, so they didn't get stuck lining up and end up late for their visiting hour.

When they arrived in the large room, Daryl watched as Jesus broke away from him and towards the couple that Daryl saw in the photos on his wall sitting by the window. They looked like a very happy and in love couple, unaware of Jesus' arrival, they were giggling and whispering to each other like teenagers. It was cute.

Daryl looked away from them when Jesus reached them and searched for his own visitors instead. He spotted them after several moments, sat reasonably close to where Jesus and his visitors were, near the vending machines and murmuring to each other, a couple of bars of chocolate on the table in front of them.

Daryl approached them and was immediately greeted by Tara and Rick hugging him before they all sat down.

"Present," Tara said with a grin as she pushed one of the chocolate bars towards him, and he immediately grabbed it and began unwrapping it.

"Thanks," He said gratefully as he bit into it, the delicious taste of chocolate and peanut filling his mouth.

Both Rick and Tara smiled at him. It was a joke between them and Michonne how much of a sweet tooth Daryl had. He had very much missed the treats he enjoyed so much while in the prison, the only time he got to have one was when he was at a visit and could get something from the stocked vending machines.

"How's it been the past week? Been real busy down at the station and I haven't had a chance to call you," Rick asked, resting his elbows on the plastic surface of the table and smiling at him.

"Been good," Daryl answered honestly, smiling around his mouthful of chocolate, he glanced over at Jesus and found that the man was already looking at him, a sweet little grin spread over his plump lips.

Daryl smiled back and blushed a little as he faced Rick and Tara again.

"Well, that's good," Tara said and looked over at Jesus for a few moments.

Rick hummed in agreement, "Not long now, huh? A month and a half and then you're out of here," He said, and Daryl could hear how happy the man sounded, Daryl knew that the man had missed him, just as much as he had.

"Yeah," Daryl said, and just the words of it sent a spark of excitement in his gut, along with a pang of pain because he knew that getting out meant leaving Jesus behind.

Rick smiled, "Now, once you get back out, you'll need to get back on your feet, and until you do, you'll be staying at the house with me, Michonne and the kids. No arguing," He told him, pushing another chocolate bar towards Daryl as he had finished the first already.

Daryl smiled gratefully, and he didn't even try to argue. He knew there was no point; Rick went all out when it came to Daryl's wellbeing and had since they had first gotten close. He really had done so much for him, Daryl would have ended up a lot worse than what he was now if Rick hadn't been in his life.

"Okay," He said softly, beginning to work on the wrapper of his second chocolate bar, "Thank you," he said softly as he looked at Jesus again, and the long-haired man seemed to sense that he had, as he flickered his eyes over to him.

"What're you thinkin' job wise?" Tara asked after a few minutes, as she crossed one leg over the other and began tying her short hair into a messy not at the back of her skull.

Daryl shrugged, "I wanna go back to the mechanic's if Dale will have me. I'll talk to him when I get out," He answered, and he thought that the man would. Dale was an understanding guy and might be willing to give him a second chance.

"I can go see him before if you like?" Rick offered, and that time it was him who looked over at Jesus, and Daryl followed his lead, and his eyes met Jesus' again, and they smiled at each other.

Giving his attention back to Rick and Tara, he shook his head, "Nah, it'll make a better impression if I do it myself," he answered.

Rick nodded, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea," he said thoughtfully.

They continued to chat about Daryl's plans once he was out of prison, Rick's kids, new cases at the station, Tara's new girlfriend, Rosita. The entire time, Daryl kept 'sneaking' glances at Jesus, and Jesus did the same to him. Whenever their eyes met, they smiled softly at each other and Daryl blushed.

Around what could have been the tenth time it happened, Tara sighed heavily and leaned over the table, her brown eyes boring into his own.

"Okay, you and long-hair dude over there, have been giving each other eyes the entire time we've been here, what's going on?" She asked, and she sounded madly curious.

Daryl sighed and looked down at his hands as he began playing with them, and he knew that Tara's words had also gotten Rick intrigued now.

"Daryl?" Rick pressed, and Daryl looked up and found the man staring at him with furrowed brows and an expression of concern spread over his features.

"Jesus, my cellmate," He said, "Well, Rick knows that I've liked him for a while, and I think he likes me too," he said, and he sounded like a teenager talking about his first crush to his friends.

"Couldn't blame him," Tara said cheekily, smirking at him, and he blushed as he smirked back, "What makes you think that though? Other than all of the staring and blushing of course,"

Daryl chuckled softly, "Been friends since my first day, really, but the past month, there's just been some moments. And last night..." He trailed off for a moment, "We uh, kissed a lot,"

Tara cooed, and Rick grinned, "Look at you having a little romance," Tara said.

Rick shifted in his seat, and Daryl saw that he cast a look at Jesus again, "Are you sure that he's not taking advantage of you?" He asked softly, making sure that nobody could hear him.

Daryl nodded. After what Jesus had told him last night, how he had cried in his arms. How incredibly vulnerable he had been, how he had shared that part of him with Daryl.

"I know he ain't," He said softly, looking over at Jesus again, the man that time was engrossed in photos that Glenn was showing him, but Daryl smiled at the look of happiness on his face, "Just trust me, I know,"

That seemed to be all Rick and Tara needed.

* * *

That night, when they returned to their cells to go to sleep, they kissed once again and did until Ford told them to get into their own beds with an eye roll and a small smirk.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The relationship progresses.

Daryl sighed in relief as the door that led to the yard entered his sight. He had had a long boring day at work and was looking forward to spending some time in the sun with his two friends, where he felt less like a caged animal.

He pushed the heavy door open eagerly and stepped outside. A soft breeze immediately greeted him, and warm sun on his face, and he sighed happily at the feeling of both of them.

He stopped for a moment to look around the yard in search of Paul and Raleigh, and after a few moments, he eventually spotted them on the far side of the yard, both sitting on the table top of the picnic table.

It didn't take him long to get to them, and they both looked up when they heard him approaching. Raleigh greeted him with a cheeky smirk, and Paul a soft smile, and then seeing what Raleigh was doing, shoved his elbow into the man's side.

Daryl quirked his brows at them as he came to a stop in front of them, Raleigh just appeared to grin wider, folding his hands in his lap and looking at Daryl like he was the most interesting thing he'd seen all week.

"What's wrong with you?" Daryl eventually grunted as he folded his arms over his chest a little self-consciously.

Raleigh shrugged, "Oh, nothing, I did hear some very interesting news though," He replied, turning his smirk to Paul for a few moments before looking back at Daryl again.

Daryl looked to Paul, raised one of his brows in question and looked at him expectantly, "What's he on about?" He grunted.

Paul sighed, glared at Raleigh, and then looked back to Daryl, "I told him that we've been..." Paul trailed off and just waved his hand instead, but Daryl still understood what he meant.

Since that night a week ago where Paul had opened up to Daryl about what had been done to him, and the kiss they shared, they had been kissing almost every night. They would both be in one of their beds and would have simple, quiet conversations as they laid or sat together, and would steal kisses in between sentences.

Daryl still didn't know exactly what that was though for Paul, he knew he was crushing on Paul hard, and he regularly had moments when he thought Paul liked him too, but he still wasn't sure if he was just some kind of entertainment while they were locked up.

"Oh, right..." Daryl replied, and he felt his cheeks heat up in a hot red blush, and he cast his eyes to the ground as he began to fiddle with his fingers.

"Well," Raleigh said after neither Paul or Daryl said anything for a few moments, "I'm happy for you two, leave it to Jesus though to find romance in prison," he said with a smile as he nudged Paul's shoulder.

Paul laughed softly, and after a while, he met Daryl's eyes, "Yeah, leave it to me," He said, smiling gently and sweetly at Daryl and it made his stomach swirl happily with butterflies.

* * *

Later that night, when everyone was supposed to be asleep, and the lights were out, Paul was once again crawling into Daryl's bed.

Daryl looked up at the long-haired man beside him as he settled propped up on one elbow so that he could look down at him, "Are you upset that I told Aaron about us?" He asked quietly, blue-green eyes filled with concern.

Daryl blinked up at him in confusion, and then it clicked for him that Aaron must be Raleigh's first name, something Daryl didn't know.

"Nah, I ain't upset. As long as he don't go gossiping about it, I don't really care; he's our friend," Daryl replied, and then hummed softly when Paul's fingers began to brush through his hair.

"Okay, good," Paul said, sighing softly in relief, and then leaning down to peck his cheek briefly, "I didn't really think when I said it... Oh, I've also kind of talked about you with Maggie and Glenn too," he added.

Daryl shrugged, "I talk 'bout you with Rick, Michonne, and Tara, stop stressin'," he said, a small grin pulling on his lips as he moved one of his hands to grasp Paul's waist.

Paul laughed softly, "Okay," he whispered, and then leaned down to press their lips together.

The kiss was warm, sweet, and what Daryl had been craving all day.

The kissing lasted a long time soft and gentle like that before Paul slipped his tongue into his mouth and it began to heat up. The swirls of arousal in Daryl's were prominent as Paul kissed him more passionately, and then proceeded to climb on top of him under the covers carefully.

Daryl sighed quietly against Paul's lips and lifted his hand to cup the back of Paul's neck, as Paul's own hand made it's way beneath the covers and under the sleep shirt that Daryl wore.

Daryl jumped slightly at the feeling of Paul's fingers against his skin, but soon relaxed and began to enjoy it. He wished that Paul would just strip them both naked so that he could feel the younger man completely, but he knew that that wasn't an option. They'd be in trouble if they got caught, would be separated more than likely, and Daryl didn't want that. Kissing how they were, was risky enough.

When Paul shifted, and accidentally rubbed their erections together, Daryl moaned quietly, and he immediately had a hand shoved over his mouth for his efforts.

He blinked up at Paul in the dim light, the man's hair falling around his face like a halo, his eyes boring into his own, and his lips were shiny with their shared saliva.

"Can't make noise," Paul whispered.

Daryl nodded, and Paul removed his hand, "I know, sorry," he whispered.

Paul shook his head, "Don't be sorry; I wish I could hear you make all the noise you wanted," he said, brushing some hair back from Daryl's eyes. Daryl sighed, leaned up to give Paul another kiss, and then carefully rolled the man off him, and Paul did so with no protest, "You okay?"

Daryl hummed, and laid on his side facing the other man, "Yeah, I just know that if we do something, I won't be able to stay quiet, and we'll get in shit," He said, and he knew it was the truth, he had always been vocal in bed. His sexual partners either loved or hated it, a couple even gagged him to try and stop it, but nothing really could, he was a vocal guy, and that's just how it was.

Paul chuckled softly, "That's very intriguing, but even if you could stay quiet, I still think it would be too risky,"

Daryl nodded in agreement, "Unfortunately,"

"Besides," Jesus began, "You deserve better than to be fucked in a prison bed anyway," 

Daryl smiled a little, and kissed Jesus one more time. 

They didn't say much after that, just played with each other's hair and cuddled, and when Daryl was close to falling asleep, he felt Paul get out of his bed, and make his way back over to his own.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl is released.

Daryl was once again sat in the comfortable chair that sat in front of Carol's desk. It was sort of sentimental really, over his five months in prison, he had had ten appointments with her, one every two weeks. Today was his last appointment before he was free again.

"So, Daryl," Carol said as the clock began ticking towards the last couple of minutes of their session, "How are you feeling about being released in a couple of days?" She asked him, a smile spread over her lips.

Daryl felt his lips pull in a small smile just at the words, "Good, excited…" He said, looking down at his hands, and then back up at her, "Kind of sad at the same time, which is weird," He sighed.

Carol furrowed her brows at him slightly, and jotted down something on her notepad, "Why're you feeling sad about leaving?" She asked him.

Daryl was quiet for several moments, thinking what was the best way to word it, "Well, I got two good friends here, it's almost gonna suck going from seeing them every day, to only twice a month," He said, and his stomach dropped just a little as he thought about it.

"It will take some getting used to for sure," Carol said, "The time will fly by, especially since you'll be released and free to do more things,"

Daryl nodded, "Yeah, I know," He replied, "It's just the downside to leaving,"

"You'll get to visit them both twice a month, call almost whenever you want, write even. I know the kind of guy Jesus is, and he would have a real appreciation for receiving a letter. He'd love it,"

Daryl laughed softly and nodded, and what the older woman had said was true, Jesus really would love to get a letter. Daryl didn't understand why, he would much prefer to hear Jesus' voice, but Jesus would find a letter more personal. Maybe that's why he liked them so much.

"Yeah, he would. He's weird like that," Daryl said.

Carol grinned at him, "Like I said the first time we met, he's an interesting character that one,"

"Yeah, he is," Daryl said quietly, and he was full of fondness for the younger man.

Carol glanced up at the clock, and Daryl did too, he found that their final hour was up, and he sighed quietly.

"Well, Mr. Dixon," Carol said, "I'm only a prison counselor two weekdays, the other three, I am in my own practice in Richmond. Now, you've told me that Richmond is where you'll be living once you're released, and provided that you don't live too far away that it's inconvenient, I would like to continue with our sessions," She explained as he went through the top of drawer of her large wooden desk, and after a few moments, she pulled out a card and handed it to him.

Daryl accepted it, "Thanks," He said, and when he first started the therapy with Carol, he had thought it would be pointless and that he would hate it, but he was proven wrong. He wouldn't mind continuing the sessions with her once he was released, "It might take me a while to be able to afford it… but, yeah, I'll think about it," he said as he gripped the card in his hand and stood up from the chair.

"Hopefully I'll see you at some point in the future, Daryl," Carol said, and held her hand out for him, and he shook it firmly and offered her a small smile.

"Thank you," He said, and then proceeded to leave the room.

* * *

The next few days seemed to pass slowly and quickly at the same time to Daryl, which was strange, but he didn't want to focus on it too much.

His mind was filled with the thoughts that in the morning, he would say goodbye to Jesus and Aaron, he would be escorted from his cell, searched, given back the clothes and belongings he had on him when he first became a prisoner. He'd meet Rick in reception, and Rick would drive him back to his and Michonne's house, and Daryl would get his life back together.

But that was tomorrow, and tonight, he was laying in the bed in his cell, with a gorgeous man in his arms, being kissed like he was the most precious thing in the world. Jesus' mouth was warm, his lips soft, and he had a hand in his hair carefully threading his fingers through it.

Jesus was laid over him, Daryl on his back beneath him with his arms held around the man's waist, rubbing his hands along it.

They pulled apart after several long minutes, "Fuck, I'm going to miss you," Jesus breathed and rested his forehead against Daryl's.

Daryl sighed and squeezed his eyes closed because he knew that at that point, it wouldn't take much for him to cry.

"I'll visit you whenever you have an hour," Daryl said, licking his lips and swallowing the lump in his throat.

"I know you will," Jesus replied, and rolled off of him to lay down on the bed beside him.

After a few moments, an arm wrapped around Daryl's shoulders, and he was pulled to the younger man's chest. Daryl sighed and squeezed his eyes closed as he rested his head on Jesus' chest, and wrapped an arm around his waist.

They both fell asleep not long after that, neither of them could care about being caught that night. They slept peacefully the entire night, curled together under the covers, warm and comfortable against each other's bodies.

* * *

The two of them held each other close in the morning, Aaron was sat on Jesus' bed waiting, and Ford was hovering outside of the door waiting.

Jesus' arms were wrapped around Daryl's shoulders, and Daryl had the younger man by the waist and had his face buried in his neck, not even caring that the man's long hair was tickling his face.

He could have purred at the feeling of Jesus' hand rubbing circles over his back, and his plump lips pressing kisses against his hair.

"I'll see you soon, okay?" Jesus said when they finally broke apart, rubbing Daryl's arms.

"Yeah, soon," Daryl said, and they leaned forward in sync, much like their first kiss.

Daryl doesn't know how long they kissed for, but he knew it wasn't long enough as they pulled apart, and his eyes met Jesus' sad ones. Jesus' hand brushed over his cheek and jawbone, and Daryl leaned into the touch as Jesus slowly stepped away from him.

Daryl said his goodbye to Aaron, a warm hug and he even got a kiss on the cheek from the curly-headed man. Daryl and Jesus kissed one more time before Daryl finally left the cell. Ford petted him on the back comfortingly, and the two of them began to make their way through the cellblock and to Daryl's freedom.

* * *

Daryl collapsed into Rick's arms as soon as he reached him. It had only been a few weeks since he had seen the man at their last visit, but there was something so different about him seeing him again that time because he was getting out of the hellhole he had lived in for the past months.

"I ain't gonna fuck up again," Daryl said, his voice was almost a whimper as he clung onto Rick like his life depended on it.

Rick nodded against him, "I know, brother. We're putting it behind us," He said and patted his back before giving him another squeeze before they broke away from their hug.

Daryl sighed heavily, and smiled softly at his brother, "I can't wait to see the kids," He said softly.

Rick smiled broadly at him, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "Let's get you home, yeah?" he said.

Daryl nodded, "Yeah,"


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl's first day of freedom.

Waking up was a long process that morning. Daryl slowly blinked himself awake, still being half asleep for several long minutes.

He rolled over and found that he was in a big bed, and he furrowed his brows in confusion for several moments before he remembered that he had been released from prison the previous day, and he was now at Rick and Michonne's house, in the attic that they had renovated into a spare bedroom. It had been renovated because Michonne's pregnancy with RJ, had caused them to turn their original spare bedroom into his nursery.

Daryl rolled onto his back again and looked up at the white ceiling. He was incredibly comfortable, the mattress soft beneath him, and the blankets keeping him warm. His stomach was still pleasantly full from the large roast dinner Michonne had cooked up the previous night, Tara had joined them for the meal also.

The sound of giggles suddenly met his ears, and it seemed like it was coming from outside.

He shoved the blankets off of his body, and stood up from the bed, groaning as he did. He stepped over to the large window that looked out on the backyard and searched around for the source of the giggling. He found it quickly, Carl and Judith were running around playing, Carl pretending to become sort of monster as he chased his sister.

Deciding that he had had enough of being alone in his room, he pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt as he had only slept in his boxers, and then made his way down the attic stairs, and then the second set that led him to the first floor of the house.

He immediately headed for the large glass sliding doors that led to the porch and stepped out to his family. It was sunny out, and by checking the watch on his wrist, he found that it was ten am and that he had slept late.

Looking out at the backyard, Carl and Judith were still playing, Michonne was laying on one of the pool lounges in a yellow bikini that Daryl's sure he would have been able to appreciate if he wasn't gay. Rick seemed to be well enough.

Rick was on the porch swing and holding little RJ in his arms. RJ was just over a year old, and an absolute sweetheart. He appeared to be still asleep as he rested his head against his father's chest and had his fist clenched around his shirt.

"Good morning," Rick greeted him, his voice low so that he didn't wake his young son.

"Hey," Daryl replied, smiling at the pair as he took a seat on the swing beside Rick.

"Did you sleep well?" Rick asked, looking at him intently.

Daryl nodded immediately as he reached over and brushed his hand over RJ's hair, "Real good, that bed's a whole lot more comfortable than the one in prison,"

Rick chuckled softly, "Yeah, I bet," He said.

Daryl continued stroking RJ's hair, gentle enough so that he didn't wake him. It made him sad everytime he thought of the fact that he had missed out of five months of his and Judith and Carl's lives.

"It's real good to be out," He said softly after a few moments, and he jumped slightly when he felt Rick's hand in his hair.

"It's good to have you back, Daryl. The kids have missed you, Michonne and I have missed you," He said softly.

Daryl sighed heavily, and he could feel tears stinging in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He had done enough crying the previous night when he had retreated to the attic to go to sleep.

"Uncle Daryl! Come play!" Judith was suddenly yelling at him from where she stood in the middle of the backyard, Carl holding her upside down, and her long hair brushed the grass.

Daryl chuckled and pushed himself off the porch swing, and made his way to steps that led him off the deck and onto the lawn.

He messed up Carl's hair affectionately when he reached them, and then lifted Judith up to kiss her cheek hello, and she giggled when he blew a raspberry against it.

* * *

"Hi, Daryl," Jesus greeted him.

His voice sounded different through the phone, not as clear as what it was when Daryl heard him speak in person.

"Hi," Daryl replied, sitting himself down on his bed and crossing one leg over the other as he fiddled with the covers beneath him.

"You already said that," Jesus told him, and Daryl just knew that the man was smirking.

Daryl sighed heavily and was glad that Jesus couldn't see his blush as he rubbed his temples, "I know," He grunted.

"Why're you nervous?" Jesus asked, "We've spoken hundreds of times before,"

"Not on the phone though," Daryl replied.

"How's it different?"

"I dunno," Daryl said, wishing with everything in him that he could be looking at the younger man, that Jesus was free with him, "It just feels kinda weird,"

He heard Jesus sigh, "Well, you're being adorable, so that's the upside," He said playfully, and Daryl's cheeks flushed a little deeper, and he smiled.

"Thanks, asshole," Daryl says.

Jesus laughed softly, "How have your first couple of days been anyway?" He asked.

"Real good, it's great being back with the kids. Me and Tara are going out to the gay bar tonight,"

"A gay bar, hmm?" Jesus said, "You looking to meet someone?" He asked playfully, but Daryl could pick out the slight bit of insecurity in his voice.

"Nah," Daryl answered quickly, a small smile playing at his lips, "Waiting for you. I'm going out with Tara and her girlfriend, I haven't met her before," He answered.

"Well good," Jesus replied, sounding relieved, "You'll have to take me out when I'm released, I've missed a good gay bar,"

"Sure," Daryl replied, grinning because he definitely would love to take Jesus out.

"It's a date then,"

"Mhm," Daryl replied, and he could imagine Jesus smiling with a light flush on his cheeks.

"Well, anyway," Jesus said after a few moments, "My next visiting hour is in three weeks if you want to come,"

Daryl grinned wide, and tucked some hair behind his ears, "Of course I want to come,"

"Okay, good," Jesus replied, "Maggie, Glenn, and Hershel are away then, so it'll just be you and me,"

"That's fine," Daryl said.

"Well, then, I look forward to seeing you," Jesus said, and Daryl could hear the smile in his voice.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl visits Jesus in prison.

It was nostalgic driving back into the prison's parking lot. It had been three weeks since Daryl was released from the prison and three weeks since he had been back.

Ideally, he would have never had to return to the prison, but it was Jesus' visiting hour, and he wasn't going to miss out on seeing the younger man. He wasn't sure if he could call Jesus his boyfriend or not, but it sure did seem like that's what they were.

The parking lot was reasonably full as there were many people with visiting hours that day, and it took Daryl ten minutes to find a park, and he was worried that he was going to be late.

After finally parking the car, he quickly locked it and then rushed into the prison's reception. From there, he was searched and then led, along with the other visitors, to the large room used for visits. Only a few prisoners had already arrived, and Daryl didn't see Jesus among any of them, so he decided to make his way over to the vending machine and then find himself a seat.

He settled at a small table by the window with two seats and crossed one leg over the other as he waited for Jesus to arrive. The chocolate bars and packets of candy that he had purchased from the vending machine tempted him from where he had sat them on the top of the table, but he was holding himself back until Jesus joined him.

It took a few minutes, but Jesus eventually appeared in the doorway, and Daryl quickly stood up from his chair as the man approached him.

They smiled wide at each other, and when close enough, and Daryl wrapped his arms around Jesus' middle, and right then and there, Jesus grabbed Daryl by the back of his neck and pushed their lips together.

Daryl closed his eyes and hummed happily as he kissed Jesus back. He had missed kissing him so much; he had missed the way he held him like he was so precious, how his lips were always warm and soft.

Their kiss lasted several long moments before they finally pulled their lips from each others'.

"Hi," Jesus greeted him softly as he stroked his fingers through Daryl's hair.

Daryl smiled, "Hi," He replied, pecked Jesus one more time and then pulled away entirely from the man, "Sit down, I got food," He said, and sat down in the uncomfortable plastic chair.

Jesus laughed softly but did as Daryl said and sat down, immediately reaching for one of the chocolate bars. Daryl followed his lead and did the same.

"How have things been here?" Daryl asked as he took a bite of the chocolate bar.

Jesus shrugged and wiped some chocolate off his lip, "Okay," He said, and then swallowed his mouthful, "I got a new cellmate. His name's Zack," he said, resting his elbows on the table.

"What's he like?" Daryl asked curiously.

"He's alright," Jesus began to explain, "Doesn't really talk much or make any kind of effort to be friendly with me. He spends all of his time praying, crying and sobbing and begging for God's forgiveness,"

"Sounds like a pain," Daryl said, one of his brows raised a small smirk playing on his lips.

Jesus nodded, "He is, and Raleigh gets out next week. So, I'll be stuck with no friends again," he said almost sadly, taking another large bite of his chocolate.

Daryl felt a pang of pain at Jesus' words, and he wished that the man could have gotten out when he did so that he didn't have to suffer by himself.

"You've got Ford," Daryl said, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Jesus lips quirked in a smile and he laughed, looking over at the red-headed guard who was watching over two men on the other side of the room.

"Yeah, at least I've got Ford," He said fondly, eyes moving to Daryl's and grinning at him.

Daryl smiled back, and the two of them fell into silence for a few moments before Daryl remembered the photos that he had in his pocket. He reached into the denim of his jeans and began attempting to find purchase on them as he moved his chair so that it was sat beside Jesus' and their shoulders were almost touching.

"I have some photos if you want to see," He explained as he finally pulled the photos from his pocket and placed them down on the table in front of them.

"Sure!" Jesus said excitedly and folded one leg over the other as he rested his elbows on the table, and his jaw in his hands as he eagerly looked down at the photos.

"Godkids," Daryl said as he pushed the first photo in front of Jesus. In the picture, Carl, Judith, and RJ were all sat on the large couch in matching pajamas and smiling, except for Carl who was giving the camera the finger and poking his tongue out.

"Aw, they're cute," Jesus said, a smile on his face, "So, Carl, Judith, and RJ?" He said as he pointed to each child.

Daryl nodded, "Yeah," He answered, and smiled when Jesus adjusted his position to rest his head on his shoulder.

They went through all of the photos, and then Daryl returned to the other side of the table.

"So," Daryl said, licking his lips nervously and placing his hands in his lap to hide how they were shaking from Jesus, "By the time you get out, I'll hopefully have my own apartment, I'm looking right now and have a couple that look promising,"

Jesus smiled at him, and a little red blush began to form on his cheeks, "Where are you going with this, Daryl?" He asked, pushing some hair behind his ears and out of his face.

Daryl swallowed the lump in his throat, and shifted nervously in his chair, "Well," He started, looking down at his hands, "If you want, when you get out you can come and stay with me,"

It was quiet for a few moments, and Daryl kept his eyes down until he saw Jesus reach across the table and place his hand down, palm facing upwards. Daryl understanding what he wanted, placed his hand in Jesus'. It was warm and wrapped around his own comfortingly, and Daryl loved the feeling of it.

"I'd love that Daryl," Jesus replied, grinning wide as Daryl met his eyes, "We already lived together for five months, It'd be great to keep doing so, don't you think?"

Daryl laughed softly, and he was flooded with relief, "Yeah, it would be,"

The hour seemed to pass all too quickly, and before Daryl knew it, he had Jesus in his arms again and was kissing him goodbye.

Ford came along after a few moments to collect Jesus, and the two of them walked away, he told Daryl to stay on the right track.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl picks Jesus up.

Rick was sat on the couch beside him, his bare feet on Daryl's coffee table and a beer in hand as he stared at the television in front of them.

It was a Saturday night, and Rick had come over for a 'brother's' night. By the brother's night, they were gonna drink beer and watch shitty TV.

Daryl was shirtless and in a pair of sweats. He and Rick had been close for years, and they knew everything about each other, so Daryl did give a shit about being shirtless in front of the other man anymore. Rick knew that the scars were there, and he knew what caused them.

"What time are you going to pick Jesus up tomorrow?" Rick asked as an ad came on, and the show they were watching was interrupted.

"I'll pick him up at four, that's when he's released," Daryl replied, burping afterward.

Rick nodded, "Damn, sucks you have to wait that long, it'll be close to sunset by the time you get back here," He said.

Daryl nodded, "Yeah, but he'll be pretty exhausted anyway, and I'm sure he'd love just to go back to the apartment and have a long shower and a bath, and I'll cook him a nice dinner,"

"Have nice sex," Rick said, a smirk on his lips as he looked over at him, and Daryl snorted and rolled his eyes because his little brother had always been a lightweight.

"Well, I stocked up, so hopefully," He replied, referring to the lube and condoms he had purchased earlier that morning when he had gone grocery shopping.

Rick laughed, and Daryl quickly joined him.

They settled down when their show came back on and remained quiet until the next ad break.

"Is his family coming to see him straight away?" Rick asked.

"Nah," Daryl said, "We're meeting up with them the day after at the lake, so we'll just hang out there, go swimmin' and all that. They'll put all of Jesus' stuff that they had been storing in my car then too,"

Rick nodded in understanding, and then went quiet again for a few moments, "Now, I hate to keep askin', but are you sure that he's safe?" The Sheriff asked, seeming to have sobered up a bit.

Daryl sighed, and looked over at the other man, "Yes," He said firmly.

"Do you know what he did?" The other man added after a few moments.

"Yes,"

"Would you tell me? For my own piece of mind,"

Daryl sighed and took a large swig of his beer before he looked over at his brother, "You cannot ever bring it up with him, because it's an extremely sensitive subject," He warned, and Rick immediately nodded, so Daryl sighed, and began to explain what had happened to Jesus.

By the end of it, Rick felt deep sympathy for what had been done and said that both of the men deserved what came to them.

Daryl couldn't agree more.

* * *

Daryl was on his way to the prison when he had a thought and made a last-minute decision and changed lanes to head in the direction of the mall.

He managed to find a park easily, even though it was usually a very popular time for people to be out shopping since school was finished for the day and the car park was usually full of teenagers' crappy first cars.

He made his way through the mall, ignoring parents that were trying to get their kids to behave, and rolling his eyes at obnoxious teenagers as he walked in the direction of the grocery store. Once inside, he made his way to the canned food section.

He scanned the shelves until he found what he was looking for, a can of fresh pineapple pieces. On their last visit, Jesus had told Daryl how the food that he currently missed the most, was pineapple. It was his favorite fruit, and he ate it almost every day before he was locked up and hadn't had it since he was locked up as it wasn't an item that the cafeteria served. Daryl decided that he'd get the man a can that he could snack on as they drove back into the city to Daryl's apartment.

Once he had the pineapple, he made his way through the store to the small section where bouquets were on display. They weren't the best of quality as they were from a grocery store, but Daryl didn't have time to also drive out to the flower shop, so he picked the best looking one he could see, then paid for his purchases and left the store.

Due to his last-minute stop, Daryl arrived at the prison fifteen minutes later than what he was supposed to, and he hurried to get out of the car, flowers in hand, hoping that Jesus didn't think he abandoned him.

He was around twenty metres from the door to the reception when he noticed the lump laying on the grass, said lump was holding their hands up to the sun, laying on their back with their legs spread out as they enjoyed the sun.

Daryl's lips quirked in a smile as he realized the person was Jesus. He quickly began to make his way over to him, his legs carrying him quickly.

He came to a stop by Jesus' feet when he reached him, and Jesus' eyes immediately fell on his own. Jesus' mouth spread wide in a smile, and he held his hand out for Daryl to grab. Daryl wrapped his hand around the younger man's own, and helped him to his feet, grunting as he did because he was damn heavy.

"Hi, gorgeous," Jesus greeted him when he was on his feet, smiling even wider when he glanced down and found the flowers in Daryl's hand.

"Hey," Daryl replied, blushing at the compliment as he held the blue and yellow bouquet out for Jesus to take, which he eagerly did, "Just got them at the grocery store, they ain't fancy,"

Jesus shook his head, and ran his fingers over the petals for a few seconds before he wrapped his arm around Daryl's shoulders and kissed his cheek, "I love them," He said, his scruff tickling Daryl's face, "Thank you,"

Daryl's cheeks flushed, and he placed both of his hands on Jesus' waist, "Just happy you're out," He said.

"Me too," Jesus said softly, and then proceeded to lean up and press their lips together.

They kissed for a long time, hands holding onto each other desperately, and Jesus was claiming Daryl's mouth with his own. The kiss was passionate, loving, and perfect. Daryl could have done it forever, but Jesus eventually pulled apart and stroked his thumb along Daryl's cheekbone.

Jesus knocked his forehead against Daryl's and breathed out deeply, the warm of his breath fluttering across Daryl's face, "Take me home," He said softly, "Fuck, please take me home,"

His voice cracked slightly, and Daryl knew that if they stayed at the prison much longer, Jesus would more than likely end up a sobbing mess.

When they got back to the car, Daryl handed the man the can of pineapple, and Jesus had demolished it by the time they got back to their apartment.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl and Jesus spend time together as a free couple.

It took them about forty minutes to get back to Daryl's apartment, and Daryl felt so incredibly fond as he led Jesus into the apartment building to take him up to the tenth floor where his home was. Jesus looked around curiously at everything, taking in simple sights that he hadn't seen in five years.

Jesus was almost bouncing on his feet as they stood in the elevator and waited for it to reach their floor, the flowers held up to his face so that he could keep smelling them.

The elevator dinged open, and Daryl fished his keys out of his pocket as they walked down the hallway to the front door of his apartment. Jesus occupied himself with the artwork hung on the wall as Daryl unlocked the door.

"Come on," Daryl said once he had it open, and stepped inside and Jesus eagerly followed behind him.

Daryl took the flowers off him and stepped into the kitchen to collect a vase, and Jesus began wandering around the main area of the apartment. He ran his hand over the material of the grey couch as he strolled along, spotting the bookshelf and making his way over to it.

Daryl liked his apartment, the furniture was somewhat modern, and it had an open plan for the kitchen, dining, and living area. It had one bedroom and an ensuite bathroom.

"This is a massive bookshelf, and you barely have anything on it," Jesus said, looking over at him, a book in hand that he had been reading the back of.

"Well," Daryl began, a small smirk on his face as he filled a vase with water, "Been talking to Maggie, she brought some of your stuff over a couple of days ago too by the way, and she mentioned that you have a shit tonne of books. I already have a shelf in the bedroom, but its full, so I bought another one for when she and Glenn give us the rest of your stuff tomorrow,"

Jesus smiled wide and place the book back in its place as he made his way over to Daryl.

Daryl placed the flowers in the vase just in time for him to be able to wrap his arms around Jesus' waist when the man's own arms went around his shoulders and pulled him close.

"You're amazing. You know that?" Jesus said, his face buried in Daryl's shoulder, and he patted his back before pulling away to look at him.

Daryl smiled, and squeezed Jesus' waist, "Why don't you go have a long shower, and a bath and I'll make some dinner?"

"Oh, what's on the menu?" Jesus asked, pushing some hair back from his face.

Daryl shrugged, "I'm a good cook surprisingly, I'll cook you whatever you want,"

Jesus hummed and leaned up to kiss his cheek before stepping around him. Daryl leaned against the bench as he watched Jesus explore through the panty, fridge, and freezer to see what ingredients Daryl had.

"A lasagna?" Jesus finally said, closing the fridge and stepping back over to him.

Daryl nodded, "Sure, now go get your butt in the shower. The suitcase of your stuff that Maggie brought over is on the bed," Daryl said and began pulling out ingredients for their meal.

"Thanks, gorgeous," Jesus said, and playfully whacked Daryl's butt before making his way to the door that led to the bedroom.

Daryl snorted and rolled his eyes, trying not to pay too much attention to how nice it felt to have Jesus' hand on his ass.

* * *

It took Daryl a total of almost two hours to cook dinner as he liked to make everything from scratch.

Once he was done, he served it out onto two plates and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Dinner's ready!" He called out.

"Okay, com- ow fuck," Jesus replied, and Daryl furrowed his brows when he heard a crash, "I'm coming!"

"You okay?" Daryl asked, a smirk of amusement playing on his lips.

"I'm good!"

Daryl snorted softly and made his way back over to the food, and he carried both plates over to the dining table. Just as opened the fridge to retrieve their drinks, Jesus emerged from the bathroom, and Daryl looked over at him.

His lips parted a little at the sight of him. His hair was wet and falling down his bare shoulders, he wore nothing but a pair of grey sleep shorts that ended about three inches above his knees, giving Daryl a lovely view of his muscular thighs and calves.

"That smells so fucking good!" Jesus said enthusiastically, immediately making his way over to the dining table and sitting himself down.

Daryl chuckled softly, "Do you like wine?" He asked. He usually wasn't the biggest fan of it, but he had had some and Rick and Michonne a few weeks previous and loved it, so he had bought himself a bottle (despite its high price) and planned to enjoy it with his lover.

"Yes, I'd love some," Jesus said, looking at him with a wide grin.

So, Daryl grabbed the bottle and two wine glasses and then joined Jesus at the table, surprised that the man hadn't started already and had managed to wait for him.

"Go for it," Daryl said motioning to Jesus' plate and beginning to pour them some wine.

Jesus immediately dug into his lasagna, and quickly groaned loudly, and proceeded to shove even more food into his mouth, "This is so fucking good," He said around his mouthful, some sauce getting in his beard.

Daryl just chuckled at him, kissed his cheek and placed his glass of wine down in front of him before he started on his own meal.

* * *

It was later that night when the two of them retired to the bed, both in pajamas and under the warm covers of Daryl's bed.

Jesus was laid over him, his body heavy against his own, and his hand cupping his cheek as he kissed him.

"Remember that night in the prison," Jesus started, moving his lips from his mouth to kiss down his cheek, jaw, and onto his neck, "When I told you deserved better than to be fucked in a prison bed?"

Daryl hummed and ran his hands up Jesus' bare back, loving the feeling of the warm skin beneath his hands, "Yeah, I do," He whispered, sighing afterward when Jesus sucked pleasantly at the skin of his neck.

"Well," Jesus said, moving so that he was looking down at him, his blue-green eyes boring into his own, "We're not in a prison bed,"

Daryl smirked a little, "Yeah, we're not," He said, pushing some of Jesus' hair out of his face, "So, fuck me then,"

Jesus snorted softly and leaned down and pressed his lips against his forehead, "Please tell me you have lube and condoms," He said, his breath warm against his skin.

Daryl chuckled softly, "Yeah, top drawer of the nightstand," He replied and kissed at Jesus' collarbones when he leaned over him, sucking at the pale skin harshly, wanting to leave his mark.

Jesus moved off his body entirely after a few moments, placing the lube and condoms down on the bed and he shoved the covers down to Daryl's feet so that it didn't get in their way.

Daryl bit his lip as he watched Jesus settle between his legs, flushing red when he spread them wide, and he became somewhat exposed, sure he had sleep shorts on, but they had ridden a fair way up his thighs.

Jesus hummed and rubbed his hands up and down his thighs, and Daryl quickly began to relax beneath the man's palms.

"You're beautiful," Jesus said as he roamed his eyes over his body.

Daryl's cheeks flushed deeper, and he smiled softly, "You too," He said shyly, and he wished that Jesus would lay down over him again so that he could touch him. He wanted to feel his soft skin, run his hands over his stomach, that currently had a bloat that Daryl found adorable, said bloat from Jesus helping himself to two servings of lasagna, and also the cake and ice-cream they had had for dessert.

Jesus smiled at him and leaned down to peck his knee before he crawled over his body again. Daryl sighed happily, getting what he wanted, and happily placing his hands on the man again.

Their lips met again, warm and passionate and Jesus sighed against Daryl's mouth as he settled against his body, their clothed erections pressing together pleasantly.

Jesus used one elbow to keep himself propped up above him, and Daryl felt the hand that was one his cheek, move down, and within seconds, his bare nipple was being pinched and teased. He moaned softly because his nipples had always been a sensitive spot. Daryl closed his eyes in pleasure, and he placed one of his hands in the other man's hair as he began kissing down his body, his neck, collarbones, chest, and then his mouth replaced the fingers on his nipple.

"Shit," Daryl gasped softly as Jesus began softly kissing and sucking at it, smirking up at him, and then transferring to his other nipple.

Jesus entertained himself with his nipples for a few moments longer, and then he sat back up, smirking a little when Daryl whined in protest.

"I got you," Jesus whispered, one thumb rubbing along his inner thigh, and he spat on his other hand and then dipped his other under Daryl's shorts and boxers and wrapped his hand around his cock.

Daryl moaned happily, and let his legs fall a little wider apart, and he gripped the pillow with one hand as Jesus' hand began moving up down on his cock, rubbing his thumb over the head and squeezing softly when he reached the base.

"Paul," Daryl moaned softly, making himself open his eyes to look up at his lover.

Jesus smiled softly at him, as he always did whenever Daryl used his real name, "What do you want?" He asked softly, still jerking his cock, "We don't have to do anything you don't want to,"

Daryl shook his head, and reached for the bottle of lube, "I want you," He said, taking deep breaths and holding the lube out for Jesus to take.

Jesus nodded and leaned down over his body to kiss him. Daryl could hear the man opening the bottle of lube as their lips moved against each other's, and Jesus only pulled so that he could pull Daryl's shorts and boxers off.

Daryl could feel the burning in his cheeks as his clothes were pulled from his body and reached for a pillow. Daryl knew what Jesus was doing and lifted his butt so that Jesus could slip the pillow under him. Once on the pillow, Jesus spread his legs wide and raised them a little. Daryl took a deep breath and bit lip as his hole and cock became extremely exposed to his lover's appreciative eyes.

"You're so gorgeous, baby," Jesus sighed as he reached for the lube again, and Daryl smiled at the pet name.

Daryl watched eagerly as Jesus poured lube onto two of his fingers, "Paul," He whispered, and he wasn't even sure why.

"You okay?" Jesus asked softly, a small frown on his lips as he placed the lube back down on the bed, and Daryl immediately nodded in confirmation, "How long has it been before you were with someone?" Jesus asked, probably wanting to know just how much prep he would need to carry out on his body.

Daryl took deep breaths as he thought about it, and gasped when Jesus' fingers began to brush over his entrance, "A couple of weeks before I was sentenced, I think," he eventually said.

He remembered the night vaguely, a sexy guy from the bar had picked him up, and then they had gone back to the man's apartment, and Daryl had spent the night.

Jesus nodded, and Daryl closed his eyes and breathed in deeply as Jesus slipped the first finger inside of him, and Daryl snorted a little at just how carefully he did it, "Paul, been using my own fingers and toys since I got out, just ain't been with another person in so long," He said, smiling fondly at the man above him who was treating him so carefully.

Jesus quirked his eyes at him, "That so?" He said, his voice a little hoarse and Daryl could see the large tent in his pants.

Daryl nodded and then gasped when Jesus thrust in a second finger along with the first and began scissoring him open, "Mhm, thought about you when I did it," He replied, smirking at the effect he was having on his eager lover.

Jesus groaned softly, "Fuck," He said softly as he took in Daryl's words and looked down at where he was stretched around his fingers.

Daryl chuckled softly and was about to mess with Jesus a bit more, but then the younger man pressed his fingers in deep, angling them upwards as he did, and Daryl groaned loudly when they pushed against his prostate.

Jesus stretched him open for the next few minutes, working up to three of his long digits, "Do you think you're ready, gorgeous?" He asked softly as he pulled his fingers out.

Daryl nodded immediately, his chest rising and falling with his heavy breaths as he spread his legs apart even further as an invitation. Jesus smiled at him, and Daryl watched as he stood up for a moment to remove his pants and boxers, and Daryl raised his brows and even licked his lips at the sight of Jesus' impressive cock.

He'd seen it soft before plenty of times in the prison showers, but it was a whole different story when he was hard. He was uncut, thick, and easily close to eight inches long. Daryl was perfectly fine with that, he almost proudly wore the title of size-king.

Jesus let out a few quiet moans as he rolled the condom down his length and spread lube over himself, and it made Daryl's cock twitch, and he couldn't help reaching down and rubbing at it.

Jesus smiled at him as he situated himself back between his legs, and he leaned down and pressed their lips together as Jesus placed the head of his cock at Daryl's entrance, and once Daryl nodded at him again, Jesus slowly began to apply pressure and push inside.

Daryl groaned, closing his eyes and gripping onto Jesus' hair as the man sunk into him. The stretch burned a little, but Daryl loved it, and Jesus removed his lips from his and rested his forehead against his own.

"Break," Daryl said when Jesus was about halfway inside of him, Daryl had both of his hands tightly gripping Jesus' waist, squeezing hard enough that there would be small bruises in the morning.

Jesus immediately stopped pushing, and looked down at him, "You okay?" He asked, his voice concerned as he pushed some hair back from Daryl's flushed face.

Daryl nodded, smiling reassuringly at Jesus, "Just needed a second," Daryl said, relaxing as he began to accommodate Jesus' cock, "Keep going," he said after a while, pulling Jesus down in a kiss.

Jesus kissed him gently as he continued to push inside, and within a few moments, he had sunk home. Daryl sighed happily at the feeling of Jesus' pressed completely against him, and he ran his hands up and down his back.

After a few moments, Daryl gripped Jesus' ass and pulled at it as encouragement for Jesus to start thrusting, which he did. He thrusts slowly in and out of him at first, and Daryl appreciated how it felt to have Jesus' ass in his hands. His ass was muscled and perky, and Daryl knew that was because of how fit the man was.

He cried out when Jesus' cock pressed against his prostate, and Jesus kissed at his neck as his thrusts began to increase in speed and hardness. It felt amazing, and Daryl loved every second of it, moaning right into his lover's ear, holding onto him for dear life and his body jolting every time Jesus hit his sweet spot, or his cock rubbed against Jesus' stomach.

Jesus groaned against his temple as gripped Daryl's thigh with one hand, and Daryl's mouth dropped open at how nice it felt to hear Jesus make a sound like that because of him. Jesus thrusts began regularly hitting his prostate, and Daryl decided it was easily one of the best sexual experiences he had had. What could make it better, was if Jesus wasn't wearing a condom so Daryl could feel the man come inside of him. But, neither of them were stupid and had been with people in the past, Daryl knew that he hadn't been tested in nearly a year and had no idea about Jesus. So, he knew they'd both have to get tested before they had unprotected sex. He decided to bring that up later.

Daryl whined loudly when Jesus grabbed him by under his thighs and pushed his legs up higher and began moving in and out of him again.

Daryl could feel his orgasm building in his stomach, and he knew that he wouldn't be lasting much longer, especially with how good Jesus' moans in his ear sounded.

Jesus seemed to know that he was close and reached between their bodies to wrap his hand around Daryl's cock and begin jerking it in time with his thrusts.

Daryl groaned at the combined pleasure of Jesus cock in his ass and his hand on his cock, and he clutched onto the man for dear life as he began to come.

"Paul, I'm…" He managed to get out before his orgasm crashed over him and came all over his stomach and Jesus' hand.

He could hear Jesus groaning as he came, and he forced his eyes open to look up at the younger man. He found Jesus already looking down at him, sweat dripping down his temple and his lips parted as he also began to come. Jesus knocked his forehead against Daryl's and moaned loudly as his thrusts became erratic and Daryl, even in his own post-orgasmic bliss, could tell that the man was coming.

Jesus eventually slowed his pace down, and Daryl pressed their lips together gently as he pulled out of him.

Daryl basically melted down into the mattress as Jesus rolled off him, and he watched hazily as Jesus carefully pulled the condom of himself, knotted the end and tossed it in the trash can in the bedroom.

He rolled over again and pressed their lips together, and Daryl sighed happily, managing to lift his hand and cup the back of Jesus' neck.

"I'm gonna go get a washcloth, okay?" Jesus said once they pulled apart, his voice gentle as he stood up from the bed.

Daryl nodded, and relaxed back on the bed, smiling happily because it finally felt like things had gone right, and admiring Jesus' ass as he left the bedroom.

Jesus returned from the kitchen a few minutes later, with a cloth in one hand a bottle of water in the other. Jesus sat down on the mattress and spread Daryl's legs again so that he could clean up his entrance of leftover lube, and then the come from his stomach.

Jesus then directed Daryl to sit up and handed the bottle of water to him, and Daryl rolled his eyes at Jesus fussing over him, but he really did love and appreciate it.

Once cleaned off, they settled down on the bed, Jesus pulling the covers over both of them and then pulling Daryl into his side. Daryl settled with an arm over Jesus' stomach and a leg over his thighs with his head resting on his chest. Jesus' hand stroked up and down his back affectionately, and his lips occasionally pressing kissed against the top of Daryl's head.

"That was fucking amazing," Jesus eventually said, and Daryl chuckled, "Wanted to do that for song long,"

Daryl hummed in agreement, and pecked the younger man's nipple playfully, "Get to do it as often as we want now, huh?" He said, smiling just at the thought.

"I'm glad we waited until now," Jesus said after a few more moments of silence, "That we didn't do anything that night in the cell,"

"Yeah me too," Daryl said, finally closing his eyes.

They didn't talk after that, both of them simply slowly fell asleep in the comfort of each other's arms. 


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesus and Daryl go to the lake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who read this fic. I hope that you enjoyed it and that it was worth the read! Xx

Daryl felt so unbelievably happy as he drove along the dirt road in his truck. Jesus was in the passenger seat beside him, slapping his hands down on the dashboard to the beat of the song, and singing loudly, being ridiculously out of tune on purpose.

Daryl was tempted to lean over, grab Jesus by his face and shove their mouths together to shut the younger man up, but he just looked so happy and at peace that Daryl couldn't bring himself to do it. So, he decided to sacrifice his ears and allow his lover to sing as loudly as he pleased and smiled when he would lean over and sing right in his ear before he grabbed his jaw and kissed his cheek.

Daryl was just so happy to see Jesus free like he deserved to be.

They were headed to the lake, a hotspot during the spring and summer for literally anyone who wanted an outing. Whether it be teenagers, families or old couples going for walks along the water, it was where people went.

It was the middle of the day on a Wednesday, so there shouldn't be too many people around. The two men were meeting Glenn, Maggie, and their four-year-old son, Hershel, at the lake, and would be spending a couple of hours there, swimming and having lunch, whatever Jesus wanted to do really.

Not long after Daryl was released, he got in contact with Glenn and Maggie and met them properly as there hadn't been anything more than a few waves as they crossed paths at the prison during the visiting hours. Maggie had told Daryl when she came over with a suitcase of Jesus' belongings to leave there for his first night of freedom, that one of the first things her best friend would want to do, would be something out in nature. Daryl had suggested going out to the lake, Maggie had agreed it would be a great idea, and they made plans for what to bring and what time to meet.

The lake was an hour and a half from Daryl's apartment, just a bit outside of the city. After taking a few more turns along the dirt road, they entered the parking lot for the lake.

Daryl had barely managed to park the car before Jesus had gotten out of it and began bounding through the parking lot to the grass in search of his family.

Daryl rolled his eyes fondly at the man but didn't mind that he had run off and left him to get the picnic basket and towels from the car himself.

When Daryl also made it to the grass a few minutes later, he was greeted by the sight of Glenn and Jesus sprinting towards the water, Jesus having taken his shirt off at was just in swim shorts that hugged his butt nicely. Daryl smiled wide as he watched the two men launch themselves off the dock and into the water.

"Hey, Daryl," Maggie greeted him when she saw him and grabbed his shoulder when he was close enough, and he kissed her cheek.

"Hey," Daryl replied, giving her a warm smile, and ruffling her son's hair who was playing with some toys on top of the picnic table beside them, "How're you goin', buddy?" He asked him.

"Good!" Hershel replied happily, and holding up his toy to show Daryl, so Daryl sat the towels and picnic basket down on the table, and then sat down with Hershel so that he could show him all of the toys he had with him.

A few minutes later, after having each toy thoroughly explained to him, Maggie began pulling food out of her and Daryl's picnic basket and setting the food out on plates for them to serve out their lunch. Daryl stood up, and lifted Hershel onto the seat, and ruffled his thick dark hair one more time before he looked out at the water.

Jesus and Glenn were acting like children despite both of them being in their thirties, wrestling, and ducking each other's heads under the water. Daryl felt his affection for his lover swell as he watched the man's face lighting up as he laughed with his friend.

There weren't many other people around, a couple of teenagers who appeared to have skipped school floating around in blow up boats, and there some other people also at the other picnic tables.

"You go get them, we'll eat, and then we can all go in the water," Maggie told him as she poured a cup of orange juice for her son.

Daryl nodded, grabbing two of the towels and then spinning on his heels and he made his way to the dock.

He stopped at the edge by the area of the dock that had railings and rested his elbows on the wood and looked out at Jesus and Glenn swimming around in the water.

"Paul! Glenn!" Daryl called out after watching them for a few moments, and both men looked over at him immediately, "Come have lunch," He told them, and grinned when Jesus shoved Glenn one more time before making his way to the area of the dock where he'd climb up.

Jesus made his way right to him, "Hi, gorgeous," He greeted him, and within seconds, Daryl was groaning and trying to duck away as Jesus wrapped his arms around him, his entire body wet.

"Asshole," Daryl grunted as he finally shoved the younger man off him, handing him one of the towels.

Jesus laughed as he ran away again, back up to his best friend and godson.

Glenn and Daryl followed, and within a few minutes, they had all settled down around the picnic table and were eating their lunch. Daryl was sat on the end of the table, with Jesus beside him munching away at his food happily, occasionally resting his head against Daryl's shoulders or kissing his cheek.

Hershel finished his food quickly and went off to play on the small playground fifteen yards or so away, Maggie and Glenn not concerned about it as the playground was entirely in their sights.

"So," Glenn said, a cheeky grin on his face as he swallowed a mouthful of chicken, "How was your first night of freedom?" He asked Jesus.

"It was great," Jesus said, and grinned at Daryl, "We had a lovely dinner, then dessert," He said, grinning at his friends and petting Daryl's thigh playfully.

Maggie and Glenn snickered and rolled their eyes, and Daryl's cheeks flushed a deep red as he elbowed Jesus' side hard, and that earned him a laugh and a kiss on the jaw from the man.

They took their time eating, Daryl taking time to get to know Maggie and Glenn, and them doing the same with him. They were interrupted by the cry of Hershel, and both parents rushed over to them when they saw he was sobbing and holding his leg which he had appeared to have grazed on something.

As Maggie and Glenn tended to the child, Jesus stood up from the picnic table and brought Daryl with him.

"Come in the water with me," He said, nudging their foreheads together and then kissing him gently, and noticing that Daryl was uncomfortable said, "You can keep your shirt on, sweetheart,"

They had never talked about the scars, but Jesus, along with everyone else, had seen them many times in the prison. Daryl wasn't ready to talk about it, but he knew that he could trust Jesus and that the younger man would be there for him when he decided that he was ready.

Daryl nodded gratefully at the man and pulled his phone and wallet out of his pocket and sat them on the bench before allowing Jesus to take his hand and lead him down to the water.

They walked out into the water instead of jumping in and only came to a stop when the water was up to their chests. Jesus grabbed Daryl by the backs of his thighs, and Daryl happily wrapped his legs around his waist and allowed the man to hold him up, it was a nice feeling to be in the other man's arms he had discovered.

"I love this," Jesus said softly, smiling when Daryl pressed kisses against both of his cheeks.

"What?" Daryl asked, using one of his hands to play with Jesus' wet hair.

"Being out in nature after being locked up for song long,"

Daryl hummed, "I'll take you out in the woods then,"

"The way you worded that makes it sound kind of creepy, babe," Jesus said, laughing softly.

Daryl snorted, cheeks flushing at being called 'babe,' "I meant camping and hunting, dumbass,"

"That does sound fun," Jesus replied, "You can teach me how to shoot your crossbow,"

"I can do that," Daryl replied, and then the two of them fell silent for several minutes before Daryl lifted his head from where he had rested it against Jesus' shoulder and looked at the man. The question had been niggling at his brain for weeks, and he decided that then was as good as time as any to ask, "Are you my boyfriend?" his voice shy, and he flushed when Jesus immediately smiled wide at him.

"Yeah, I think so, gorgeous," Jesus replied, and then leaned forward and pressed their lips together.

Daryl smiled wide as Jesus kissed him, and allowed Jesus to kiss him passionately, his tongue moving against his own, and his lips plump and warm against his own.

It was absolutely perfect, and Daryl thought that he could stay there forever, in the arms of the man he completely adored and being kissed like he was the most perfect thing in the world. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know some of you may be worrying about the number of things that weren't covered in this fic, like Daryl's child abuse, Daryl telling Jesus about Gareth, meeting Eric and Gracie, Jesus opening up to Daryl more about his childhood and what was done to him, etc. 
> 
> These things will be addressed in the sequel if it is written. 
> 
> Xxx

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are loved! Xx 
> 
> Tumblr - iiloulouii


End file.
